Making Waves
by Frodosarrow
Summary: A new mutant comes to the manor. Too bad it seems that some trouble is following her. Love triangle, yay! R&R please.
1. Kitty's Got a Boyfriend

**As much as I love Romy, this isn't a Romy story. This takes place after Black Cauldron. Also, as much as I don't love Lancitty, I sped up their timeline a little :D Enjoy.**

"You have to be kidding me!" Kurt groaned, slapping his hand on his head in disbelief.

Kitty frowned at the elf's reactions. "What?" she asked flustered.

"You…and the rock head?" he said now bursting into laughter.

"Hey!" Kitty indignantly crossed her arms. "Lance is nice. You should be happy for me!"

Kurt wagged his finger at his best friend. "Nice? I don't think so. This is the guy who tried to kill your parents, remember?"

"That was, like, a long time ago, Kurt. He was confused…" Kitty said trying to rescue her new boyfriend.

Trying to humor her, he nodded his fuzzy head. "Got it… But Scott's not going to be too happy when he finds out you're dating him."

"It's none of Scott's business," Kitty said turning her nose up at the thought.

Kurt finished off his mountain of food in a few gulps. "Come on, Kitty, we are going to be late for school!" He activated his image inducer and grabbed her arm.

"Hold on," she squealed. She snatched an apple out of the fruit bowl right before the elf teleported to the garage.

"Ready for school," Kurt announced happily as the two landed in the two vacant seats of Scott's car.

"It's about time," Jean said from the passenger seat as she lightly pushed away a lock of her red hair.

"What took you two so long?"

"Kitty here forgot to set her alarm." Kurt said taunting Kitty with a playful smile.

"Is this everyone?" Scott asked as he started his car.

Jean nodded, "Evan's skateboarding to school, and Rogue is walking."

At school, Lance was waiting for Kitty at the school's entrance. The four of them got out of the car.

"Oh great, it's Lance," Scott murmured.

Kitty violently grabbed Kurt's arm. "Ow! Hey, what was that for?"

"Kurt what was it that you wanted to show me?" Kitty asked tugging his arm harder.

"What? I don't remember…"

"Let's go…" Kitty said, stomping off. "Uh, we'll catch up with you guys later, okay?" she said with sudden sweetness towards Jean and Scott.

They waved and started walking off. "What is up with that girl today?" Scott asked. Jean shrugged.

Just then, Duncan caught her eye. "Oh, there's Duncan, Scott." She started walking away. "I'll see you later!"

"Okay!" he called, fully knowing that Jean was no longer paying attention to him. He sighed and lightly kicked the ground.

---

Meanwhile, Kitty had managed to wrangle Kurt behind a tree.

"What was that all about?" Kurt asked while rubbing his newly released arm.

Kitty peaked around the tree, to see if the coast was clear. "Lance is right at the entrance. I can't let Scott know about us!"

"Ha!" he shouted pointing at her. "So you do care what he thinks!"

Kitty brushed away some of her hair. "Well…it's just…you know Scott."

"Yes, I do, but you need to relax! He's going to find out sooner or later, Kitty. How much you want to bet?"

"I know," she said, leaning against the tree. "I just want to enjoy it a little. It's still new you know…"

"I know," Kurt said. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Come one, let's go. Jean and Scott are gone now."

She nodded, and the two walked off towards the building.

---

Back at the institute, Professor X was busy learning about a new mutant that had appeared. Cerebro had detected her early that morning. He mentally contacted Ororo. Within a few moments, she came.

"You called?" she asked.

"Yes," he said, maneuvering his wheelchair to face her. "It appears that a new mutant has emerged in Florida. Her name is Haley Wilson. She has the ability to control water. However, her powers show more potential than just that.

"I need you to take Kitty out from school. Haley is the same age as her. They will probably relate best. You might want to bring Jean with, as well." The weather witch nodded and took off for Bayville High.

**Sorry about the chapters being so short. I originally had this as one long document, so I just kind of split them up into chapters.**


	2. Kurt's Feeling Blue

During second hour, Kitty Pryde received a pas from the hall monitor saying that she was being taken out of school for the rest of the day. Jean Grey, received a similar one. The two girls made it to the front office at the same time. 

"Do you know if any of the others were pulled out?" Jean asked when she saw Kitty.

"Not that I know of…"

"I wonder what this is all about."

Ororo was sitting in one of the chairs in the waiting room of the office. When she saw the girls, she rose. "Let's go. The professor is waiting for us."

On the car ride back to the institute, the car was dead silent. Ororo hadn't told the girls anything. Jean sat patiently with her hands folded on her lap. Kitty, on the other hand, looked out the window tapping her fingers impatiently on her wrist.

When they got there, Storm ushered the girls to the x-jet. Inside, Professor X was waiting for them. The strapped themselves in, and soon enough Storm was flying the jet.

It was still quiet. Frustrated, Kitty finally said, "What's going on?"

"Oh, sorry girls, I forgot to tell you. We are going to Florida to recruit a new girl. Her name is Haley."

"Is Magneto on her trail or something?" Jean inquired.

The professor shook his head. "I still haven't sensed any activity from him. However, it's good to reach this girl as soon as possible."

"Why us?" Kitty asked.

"You are the same age as Haley. You two should relate well. Jean is here because she too will be able to relate to the girl. It will be good for her parents to see two smart girls representing the institute."

With that, the jet was quiet again. Kitty didn't want to let her thoughts wander. Although, Jean and the professor probably already knew that she was going out with Lance, she didn't want to risk it.

Luckily, the flight was short. They soon landed in the sunny state if Florida. Kitty raced to get out. She stretched out and inhaled. "It's so sunny!" she giggled happily.

---

Kurt wasn't in as quite as a good as a mood. He was sitting in his math class…not paying attention. He tapped his pencil lightly on his desk. Of course, he was happy for Kitty, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel jealous.

After all, who would love him, the blue, furred freak? Well, forget love. Nobody would even like him the way that Lance liked Kitty with his good looks.

He looked down at his image inducer. That thing was god sent. For once, he didn't have to worry about people looking at him and being afraid. However, the inducer still didn't fix the way he felt. He'd never be able to get close to another kid at school…for they would feel his fur and know he was a freak.

The bell rang, and Kurt meekly got up and gathered his things. His stomach growled. It was definitely time for lunch.

He made his way to the cafeteria. After getting a large meal, he went to go find a place to sit. The first person he saw was Scott. He was sitting alone. When Scott saw him, he waved him over.

"Where is everyone?" he asked as Kurt sat his tray down at the table.

"I don't know, why?"

"Jean's usually here by now… I saw Rogue, but I also haven't seen Kitty…"

"I don't know any more than you do."

"Okay…Oh…there's Evan. So we're just missing two…"

"Would you relax, Scott?" Kurt jammed a burger into his mouth. "It's nothing to worry about. You need to calm down."

Scott rubbed his head. "Yeah… I guess you are right."

"Of course I'm right! The fuzzy dude is always right!"

"I wouldn't push it," he said with a laugh.

On the other side of the cafeteria, Lance was scoping out the crowd for Kitty. He sighed in frustration when he couldn't find her.

"What's wrong? Can't find the kitty cat?" Toad chirped annoyingly.

Fred scratched his head. "I don't even know what you see in that loser, Lance."

Lance snapped his head towards the lumbering boy. "Watch it Blob!"

At that, Fred snarled. The two were about to go at it for a moment, before Pietro rushed in between the two and pushed them apart. "Fellows, let's not get out of hand!" he began running his mouth off. "Besides, Blob, it isn't like you haven't liked one of those X-freaks before."

"Oh yeah," he said suddenly embarrassed by the memory.


	3. Haley's a Little Freaked Out

**Longer chapter for you guys. :)**

**Oh yeah, by the way I don't own any of these characters except for mine, but that is kind of given considering this is a fanfic.**

In Florida, Haley Wilson sat in her Biology class. She had had this odd feeling all day long. Her hands felt…off. There was something up. However…what was it?

She raised her hand. "Miss Wilson?" her teacher responded.

"May I go to the washroom?"

"Take a pass." Her teacher was the cool thing about Bio. She didn't really care what the students did. She lived by the philosophy that honors students should be able to know what they were doing.

Haley quickly left the room. She wandered down the halls to the nearest bathroom. There, she studied herself for a while. Her layered blonde hair fell just to her shoulders. Gray eyes stared back at Haley. What was going on? Why was she feeling so weird?

She turned on the faucet to wash her hands. She looked down at her hands to already find them soaking wet. "That's gross," she murmured to herself. "That's gross if that is sweat." She quickly washed her hands and dried them.

Making it back to the classroom right as the bell rang; Haley picked up her tote and went in search of her friends. They were supposed to go off-campus for today's lunch.

First, she stopped at her locker. She needed to put away the books she didn't need and bring an umbrella in case it rained. Despite all the sun, it tended to rain often in her hometown.

"Hello, Haley…" a voice said from behind her. Haley stiffened, recognizing the voice of her ex-boyfriend.

She slammed her locker close. "What is it now, Jack?" she asked angrily.

"What's with the temper? I just wanted to talk to you, sweetie."

"We broke up, remember?" she said storming away. "Why won't you just leave me alone?"

He kept up with her pace. "Listen…about that…I wanted to give you another chance."

Haley stopped a brief moment to open the doors that led outside. "Give _me_ a chance?"

Jack nodded. Angered even more by this, Haley continued walking without saying a word. However, the boy was being persistent.

Suddenly, he grabbed her arm. "Listen," he said through clenched teeth. "You can't just leave me."

"Let go!" she said trying to get away from his grasp.

He pulled her closer to him, thus hurting her arm. "You are going to do what I say."

"This is exactly why I dumped you, Jack! Your temper!" She started pulling away. "Let go!" She saw him lift his arm to hit her. Out of reflexes, she lifted her free hand to protect her.

A jet of water shot out of her hand and knocked him onto the sidewalk. Haley fell back, frightened by what had just occurred. She looked down at her hand, then at Jack who was out.

Panicked, Haley grabbed her tote and started running blindly. As she turned the corner, she hit another person. Both of them were knocked off their feet.

"There you are!" Haley looked at the girl she had just knocked over.

"Oh…" she said getting up. "Hey, Lisa."

"Come on! Let's go. I don't want to spend my entire lunch period here." Haley nodded. "Jen is waiting for us in her car."

Being tugged by the wrist, Lisa led her to her friend's SUV. Haley had managed to calm down a little, but her encounter with Jack had left her worried. What had actually happen? Has she really shot water out of her hands? Haley shook the thought out of her head. That was ridiculous.

"She's going out with some of her friends," Kitty said, emerging from the building.

"Got it," Jean said. "Let's go."

Jean pulled up to Kitty's location. Kitty hopped in the car and pointed in the direction the car had gone.

"I totally don't get why we're doing this anyway." 

"It's in case her powers go hay wire," Jean replied, focusing on the road.

Kitty shook her head. "Hasn't she already done that? I mean attacking a guy is kind of under the definition of hay wire."

"That was self defense…"

"Man, she looked freaked. I probably had that same expression when I first got my powers. What I don't get is how she hadn't noticed them before hand. The prof said that Cerebro has sensed her since this morning. Doesn't that mean that she's had to have used her powers before?"

"She might have used them in her sleep or something. Either that or she didn't really notice the affects of her actions. Water is a very common thing."

Jean turned to Kitty with a sly grin on her face. "So…Lance?"

Kitty blushed furiously. "Well there goes the under wraps part…"

"Don't worry," Jean said, placing a hand on Kitty's arm. "I won't tell Scott."

"I hope not…he'll flip."

"He's going to find out sooner or later."

"You sound like Kurt." Kitty smacked her forehead.

"I know, but it's good for you to hear it again."

"I'm not like gonna break up with him just because Scott wouldn't approve."

"I wasn't saying that…"

Kitty folded her arms. "Sounded like it."

Jean pulled into the parking lot of a sandwich place. Haley and her friends were already entering the building.

"Hey, Jean?" Kitty asked as they got out of the car.

"Yeah?"

"Can we get something to eat? I'm starved."

Jean giggled. "Of course, let's go."

The two girls ordered Panini's and then chose a table where they would be able to keep an eye on Haley. Quietly the duo munched on their sandwiches and studied their potential new teammate.

"She seems nice," Jean declared.

"She attacked a guy."

"It was self defense."

Kitty shrugged. "So, like, when is the Professor going to talk to her parents?"

"He's probably doing it right now. He and Storm will have a lot of explaining to do considering that Haley hasn't even completely realized that what's going on is not in her head."

"Do you think she'll come back with us?"

Jean rested her head on her hand. "These things are always hard to tell…"

"You sound doubtful."

"It wouldn't be the first time people have shut us down."

"True." Just then, Haley got up from the table. "I'll follow her." Jean waved her away.

When Kitty arrived at the restroom, she heard a shriek from within it. Quickly, she pushed the door open. The place was already soaking wet. Haley was standing by a faucet that was currently spurting water everywhere.

She spotted Kitty, and her eyes widened. "Go away," she shouted. Then, Haley straightened her arms and faced her palms towards Kitty. A blast of water came out of them. Caught off guard, she didn't have time to phase through the jet.

Luckily, the water had hit her in the ribs and not on the head. Therefore, as she stumbled backwards she was only winded, not knocked out.

"I can help!" Kitty cried over the rush of the water. Haley gave her a strange look. "I know what you are going through. Just relax, okay?"

Haley shook her head violently. "I can't stop it! There's something wrong with me. Go away!" Once more she shot water at Kitty. This time though, she managed to phase through it.

Seeing what Kitty had just done, Haley's eyes widened in fear.

"See?" Kitty tried. "I know it's hard. But, calm down!"

A few moments later, Haley slumped to the ground. Kitty rushed to grab her so she didn't get hurt. Then, Jean came in.

"Will she be alright?" Kitty asked Jean.

She nodded. "She's just tired out from using her powers and freaking out."

"We should take her home." The two equally distributed the new mutant's weight. Then, Kitty phased them through the wall. Luckily, the girls had parked close, and no one was around to see them carry Haley into the car.

"Ick!" Kitty cried as she settled into her seat. "I'm soaking wet." Jean tossed her a hoodie to put on over her clothes.

---

"Freak," Lance said as he leaned on Kurt's locker to close it.

"What is it, Lance?" Kurt said, already weary of Avalanche's antics.

"Where's Kitty?"

Kurt turned away. "Like I am supposed to know this?"

"Come on, blue boy, I just want a word with my girl."

"Don't know where she is," Kurt said, turning back around. He shrugged his shoulders and flashed Lance a smile.

Lance grabbed him by the collar and pushed him against the locker. "You better tell me where she is."

"Oh, touchy, touchy, aren't we?" Kurt sighed. "Sorry, but I really don't know where she is."

With a growl, Lance let go of Kurt. "You better now be messing with me."

"Nope, no messes here," Kurt muttered while scampering away.


	4. Evan Needs to Work on His Landings

"I don't know…" Mr. Wilson said hesitantly. 

Professor X nodded. "I know this is a lot to digest. I assure you though, you're daughter will be safe at my institute."

The doorbell rang. "That would be two of my students now. I believe your daughter is with them. Do you mind if they come in?" Mr. Wilson looked at his wife. She smiled faintly. Then he went over to the door and opened it for the three girls.

"Dad!" Haley said upon seeing her father. She hugged him tightly. When she let go she noticed Professor X and Storm in the living room. "So…I guess you already know then…"

He nodded. "What do you think of these people?"

"I think they just want to help me." She frowned a little. "I think I could use their help."

"Then, I guess we'll let you attend this institution. Try to visit though, okay?"

She nodded sadly. "Yes, dad."

"Girls, why don't you help Haley pack her things?"

"It's alright," she replied. "I'll be fine on my own. I can pack fast…"

The professor nodded. "I understand. We will be down here waiting for you."

---

Kurt teleported into Evan's room. "What's this I hear about a new member?"

"Look, I don't know any more than you do."

He scratched his head. "So I guess that is where Kitty and Jean have been this entire day."

"Didn't realize they were missing."

Kurt sighed and teleported to his room. This place was rather dull without Kitty around. Sometimes, the other members of the house could be sticks in the mud –especially after school. Maybe this new kid, whoever he or she is will be entertaining.

A few minutes later, Professor Xavier reached the students in their heads to alert them to the arrival of the newest X-man. Kurt was the first to get there, mainly because he teleported. However, he was also the one with the most energy. The rest of the students were wiped out from school.

Logan was the next to enter the room. He sniffed at the furry elf that laid stretched out on the sofa. Soon, Evan jumped over the couch and landed on Kurt.

"Ow!" Kurt cried.

"Sorry, about that, man. I'll look before I leap next time."

Scott and Rogue arrived at about the same time. Kurt silently began to wonder if he should but up his inducer. Nobody said anything about his current appearance, so he assumed it was okay. After all, the new kid would have to learn about the way he looked sooner or later.

Shortly after everyone had arrived, Professor X arrived with Kitty, Ororo, and Jean. The two teens found a place to sit, but Storm stayed by the side of the professor.

"As you all know, we have a new student joining us today. I hope you will all make her feel at home. I'd like you to meet, Haley Wilson, also to be known as Tidal Wave.

Kurt panicked for a moment and almost teleported away. He was worried that the new girl would have the same reaction Kitty did when they first met. In worried anticipation, he curled his tail down so no one would see it.

The doors quietly opened. Haley quietly walked through them, appearing a tad timid. She could feel all everyone's eyes on her. Silently, she scanned the room to quickly analyze her new "family."

Her eyes fell upon Kurt. Her immediate reaction was to scream, but after a split-second she decided that his appearance wasn't something to freak out about. She actually was more afraid of Rogue…

"Hi," she said trying to cover up the awkward silence.

"Hello," they all replied in unison.

"That was… kind of creepy. Do guys rehearse that or something?" The group of teens burst into laughter. Haley couldn't help herself in joining in too.

"Kitty," Ororo said after the laughter had died down. "Will you show Haley to her room?" Kitty nodded and stood. Haley followed her out of the room.

Once she was out of earshot, there was an immediate reaction.

"Why does she get her own room?" Rogue whined to no one in particular.

"Ha ha!" Evan laughed gleefully. "New hot girl around here! I hope she's not normally that quiet."

Logan grunted and left the room with the professor and Storm. Jean and Scott were already into their own little conversation.

"She didn't freak out," Kurt murmured to himself.

Meanwhile, Kitty had already shown Haley her room. Her suitcases were all sitting at the foot of her bed.

"Do you want me to help you unpack?"

"Yeah…besides I have a lot of questions."

"Go for it."

"First of all, what's with that "Tidal Wave" thing?"

"Oh," Kitty said opening the dresser drawers. "Well, we all have codenames like that. Mine is Shadowcat."

"Right…"

"Yeah, I know it's a little weird around here."

Haley opened her suitcase. "Who is who?"

"What?"

"Like…what are all their names."

"Well…you've already met me, Jean, and Ororo. The big guy standing next to the professor is Logan. He is one of the teachers here…I'm warning you about him now…" Haley looked a little frightened. "He just really likes to get us working hard."

"Uh…the one with the sunglasses is Scott. You'll never see him without them. You'd be screwed if you did, because he has, like, this beam-thingy that comes out from his eyes. The sunglasses block them.

"The girl with brown and white hair is Rogue. She's always wearing gloves because if she comes in skin contact with someone she absorbs all there memory and abilities and stuff."

"Freaky," Haley commented. Kitty nodded.

"Evan is the one with the funny haircut. Don't tell him I said that; he'll get mad. He shoots out these spikes. He loves to skateboard you'd be hard-pressed to find him without it.

"The blue fuzz ball is Kurt. Don't let his looks fool you. He's a real sweetie. I was afraid of him first…anyway, he teleports. That takes a little while to get used to. He has an image inducer for school."

They were almost done unpacking Haley's things. "When am I starting school anyway?"

"You kind of lucked out there. It's Friday, so you start on Monday."

"Cool," she said, closing the bottom drawer. "I'll unpack the rest later. I just wanted to get the clothes done."

Kitty nodded, that's fine. "Besides, it is time for dinner."

"Thank god, I'm starving."

Haley suddenly seemed downcast. "What's wrong?" Kitty asked.

"What if I screw up again?"

"We all screw up. We're here to learn. Until you have better control, just keep your emotions in check. You should be fine by the time you get to school. You'd be surprised how much you can accomplish in two days."

Haley nodded and looked up. "Okay…"

"Trust me; it's really fun around here. Just relax. This is your new home." Kitty grabbed her arm. "Hold on, we're going to take the fast way down so we don't miss all the food."

"Huh?"

However, Shadowcat didn't respond. She was already pulling the two through the floor. Soon, their feet were safely on the ground.

"YOU! THAT….uh….wow?"

Kitty giggled. "You get used to the weirdness of this place. Come on, the kitchen is right around the corner."


	5. Kurt's Early for Dinner

Kurt was sitting at the dining table alone. He was extremely excited for dinner. It seemed like ages since he had last eaten. From the other room, he could hear Kitty and someone else that he couldn't quite recognize. 

The two girls soon walked into the dining room. Kurt realized that Haley was the other voice. He was afraid that he would shock her when she saw him.

"Hey, Kurt," Kitty said, spotting him right away. "I see you are early for dinner as always."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he said, looking at Haley. He quickly turned on his inducer.

She blinked to check her eyesight. "That must be the inducer…" Kitty nodded. "What are you sorry for anyway?"

Kurt looked down. "Well aren't you afraid by the way I look?" Haley shook her head. He laughed and punched the air. "Alright, she can appreciate the fuzzy dude!" He turned off his inducer.

Haley giggled. Kurt feigned a whisper, "Kitty wasn't quite as cool as you are about me."

"Hey!" Kitty intervened. "That was like, a long time ago. I was still freaked out about…everything."

"Whatever, Katzchen."

"Looks like there's already a party in here," Evan said as he skateboarded in. He plopped down in a chair, "How come I wasn't invited?" He extended his hand to Haley. "Evan Daniels."

She took it. "Haley." He smirked slightly. Kitty rolled her eyes.

"Ugh," Rogue said as she entered the room. "Why are there so many people here?"

"It is dinnertime," Kurt said baring his fangs in a full-fledged smile.

Haley and Kitty giggled at Kurt's response. His tail whipped back and forth, pleased with himself.

Rogue spotted Haley. "Oh…'sorry about that. I didn't mean to come off pissy or anything."

Haley waved it away. "It's no problem."

"I'm Rogue by the way."

"I know." Rogue gave her a strange look. "Kitty told me." Rogue nodded and sat down at her usual spot, wondering what else Kitty had told the new recruit.

Jean and Scott soon came in. They took little notice in the other people there. "Are they always that into each other?" Haley whispered to Evan.

"Pretty much…but they aren't going out so don't get the wrong idea. You might get them mad." She nodded.

Dinner was soon served. The instructors showed up halfway through the meal. Rogue sat by herself and got out of the dining room as soon as she was done. Jean and Scott continued to be joined at the hip. Kurt and Kitty were in their own discussion. So, Evan and Haley were left to talk with each other.

From the other side of the table, Kurt watched angrily as Evan flirted up a storm with Haley. His prehensile tail was wrapped tightly around the back of his chair. Kitty was chattering away mindlessly, but he wasn't paying attention.

"Kurt," Kitty snapped her fingers in front of his face. His eyes remained glazed over. "Kurt," she said again, snapping her fingers a few more times.

"Yes, Kitty?"

"You were growling."

"What?"

"You…were…growling."

"Oh, I was?" He smiled trying to cover up his mistake. "Silly me!"

Kitty smiled mischievously, as she noted that Kurt's gaze was still upon a certain new mutant. "Kurt has a crush," she said in a singsong voice.

"What? I do not!"

"Then how do you explain the gazes at Haley?"

"Well…"

"Or how about the growling because Evan is talking to her?"

"I…"

"You like Haley."

He sighed and gave in. "I guess you're right. You better not tell her!"

"Are you going to tell anyone about Lance?" He shook his head. "Then, I won't tell anyone about you liking Haley."

"Sounds good," he said meekly.

Later that night, Kurt sat perched on his balcony. He was deep in thought about Haley. Why was it that he had to always like someone out of his league?

Granted, he considered everyone out of his league. After all, he did look like a demon. He sighed. This crush on Haley vaguely reminded him of the one he had had on Kitty when she first came. However, unlike Kitty, she had accepted him right away.

She made him happy and he barely even knew her. He sighed again. Why did this life have to be so torturous to him?

There was a knock on his door. He teleported out to the hallway to greet his visitor. Kurt landed behind Haley. Shocked, she let out a yelp and sent a jet of water at him.

After knocking him over, Haley realized that it was just Kurt. "Oh my god," she said helping up the wet elf. "I am so sorry."

"It's okay," Kurt said recovering from the blow. "I needed a shower anyway." She giggled.

"I guess Kitty was right when she said that it takes a while to get used to you teleporting."

"Yes," he nodded vigorously. "I love to keep people on their toes." He paused. "What brings you over here anyway?"

"Actually, I live right across the hall from you," she said pointing her finger at her door. "I decided to see who my neighbor was."

"Well, that would be me. Sorry, but I don't have a housewarming gift for you."

"I think I'll live," she said with a sly smile. "What time is breakfast around this place?"

Kurt scratched his head. "Well, all the good stuff comes out around eight."

"Sounds good to me. I love a good meal. Can you wake me up?"

He nodded. "Of course, I'm an early bird. You just get a good night's rest. You are going to need it. We have DR in the afternoon."

"DR?"

"Danger Room."

"Sounds like a boatload of fun," Haley remarked sarcastically. She started walking towards her room. "'Night, fuzz," she said over her shoulder as she closed her door.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun was shining brightly through Haley's windows when Kurt came into her room to wake her up. He smiled seeing her resting peacefully. Trying not to scare her he lightly shook her. "Wakey, wakey." 

Stirring, she swatted away his arm. Kurt was persistent though. "Fine, fine, I'm up." She sat up and brushed the sleep out of her eyes. It took her a moment to recognize her surroundings. "Oh right…"

"Come on," Kurt said, hopping onto the back of her bed. "It's breakfast time."

Haley slowly got to her feet. "Which way?"

He shook his head. "That takes too long. We're teleporting there." Kurt grabbed her arm and in a second they were standing in the kitchen which smelled of pancakes that Jean had just cooked.

Rubbing her head, she said "I am never going to learn my way around this place if you and Kitty keep doing that to me."

"Sorry," he said filling up his plate. "The food was calling my name."

Getting her own food, Haley asked, "What time is it anyway?"

"Nine."

"Feels earlier."

Then, Logan walked into the kitchen. "Blondie, Elf, just the people I was looking for."

"Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

Kurt's remark was discarded. "You two have training with me today. We have to figure out just what exactly Blondie can do. Meet me outside at twelve."

"Why does that include me?" Kurt whined.

"Because it does," Logan said as he snatched the newspaper off the counter and left.

Haley turned to Kurt, "Blondie?"

"Logan uses nicknames."

"I'm so confused right now. What's going on today?"

"You, me, Logan. At noon. Outside."

"I got that much."

"Then I don't see why you are confused." Haley rolled her eyes. "Hey, if it helps, I can come and get you when it's time."

"I think I'll manage."

"Sounds good," Kurt replied, slightly hurt.

A few minutes later, Evan sleepily strolled into the room. "Hey, new girl," he said as he passed Haley.

"You are up rather early," Kurt said teasingly.

"I couldn't sleep."

"That sucks," Haley mumbled. Evan nodded in reply.

Kurt quickly put away all the food on his plate. Then he muttered shower and teleported away.

"So, Haley," Evan said as soon as they were alone. "Need a tour of this place?"

She bobbed her head, "Yeah, I haven't really been anywhere in this place. How about you meet me in front of my room in like thirty minutes? My room's the one across from the fuzz ball's."

* * *

After his shower, Kurt was busy doing homework. There was a knock at the door. "It's open," he said. 

Kitty came into his room. "What are you doing?"

"Homework."

"On a Saturday morning?"

"Yes."

"You are weird."

Kurt didn't answer. His attention was now back on his studies. She groaned and snatched away the book he was using.

"Hey!"

"No homework right now!"

"Give it back, Kitty!" He launched himself through the air to tackle her. However, Kitty phased through him and let him hit the ground. She walked away giggling. Then, Kurt teleported and tried to grab the book midair. Once again, Kitty phased, and he fell to the floor.

Flustered, Kurt shouted, "Come on!"

Kitty snickered. "Fine, I will give it back to you on one condition."

"What's that?"

"You 'go to the mall' with me tomorrow."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I want to go meet Lance at the mall tomorrow, but I don't want people getting suspicious. So you are pretending to be going with me."

"And what am I supposed to do that whole time?"

She shrugged, "Study."

He frowned. "Fine, just give me the book back."

She placed it on the bed on her way out. "Oh yeah, I heard that you had Logan today. Good luck." Kitty laughed on her way out.

---

"And that concludes our tour," Evan said, halting in front of Haley's door.

"I am never going to remember that," she replied, exasperated.

He smiled sympathetically. "I know the feeling."

Kurt passed by them. "Oh, Haley, don't forget about our session."

"Thanks for reminding me. What time is it?"

"Fifteen 'til noon," he said looking at his watch.

Evan laughed. "Looks like you better suit up." She gave him a confused look. "You know…get ready…"

Haley forced a smile. "I guess so. See you two later," she said while closing her door.

She noticed a package on her bed. The note attached to it informed her that she was supposed to wear this whenever they were in the danger room or something. Inside the box was a suit. It was mainly black, but the torso section of it was a navy blue. It came with a pair of gloves that matched the pale yellow belt. Its buckle was a red circle with a black 'x' in the center. She was also given a pair of navy blue boots that went up to her knees.

After changing, Haley went to the front of the mansion just in time. Kurt hopped down from the ledge behind her. "I was starting to think you got lost."

She jumped. "Jeez, Kurt! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

He looked down, disappointed in himself. "I'm sorry about that."

Feeling bad, Haley tried to cheer up the elf. "Sorry, fuzz, I'm just a little jumpy."

"You could say that again," he said with a smile. "You should have seen your reaction. It was hilarious!"

"Glad to know that my fear is amusing to you," she said dryly. He laughed.

Logan quietly snuck up on the two. Then, he put a hand on each of their shoulders, causing both of them to jump and laugh more. "Knock it out, will ya?" he said, irritated. The two immediately calmed down. "That's better."

"So, you probably are wondering what kind of drills I'm going to have you do today," he paused for their heads to nod. Well, we're going to play a little game of Capture the Elf." Kurt groaned. "Tidal Wave, your objective is to immobilize Nightcrawler."

"That's me," Kurt whispered to her.

"Do this by any means possible. Try not to knock him out though. The professor gets mad."

"One of the reasons why I hate this game."

"Quiet elf. Also, bub," he said pointing a threatening finger at Kurt. "Remember, not to fight back. Blondie here probably has no idea on how to defend herself." Logan paused for a moment to give Kurt enough time to nod. "Okay, Kurt, go."


	7. Haley Captures the Elf

"Blondie, go find him. I'll be watching." 

Tidal Wave ran off, not really knowing what to do or what to do. Kurt watched her for the trees. He couldn't help but snicker at her confusion. Having heard him, she turned around and spotted Kurt who was now on the move.

She shot water at him, only getting to hit him every so often. Then, Nightcrawler teleported away. She sighed and listened for him. After a few minutes, she realized he wasn't going to slip up again.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are fuzz."

She quickly scanned the treetops and noticed the slightest bit of movement. Instinctively, she shot there. A body fell out of the tree with a thud. Worried that she had hurt him, Haley ran over to Kurt.

"Kurt! Are you okay?" Reaching his body, she lightly shook him. Kurt opened his eyes, smiled devilishly and teleported, taking Haley with him.

"You fell for that?" he said as the wrestled amongst the trees. He teleported again.

"It was pretty damn convincing if you ask me," she said exasperated. He laughed; she took this as the chance to shoot a jet of water at his chest.

"Mix it up a little!" Logan shouted from no where.

As Kurt flew through the air, she decided to take Logan's advice. Using a lot of her strength, Tidal Wave made a whirlpool around Kurt. It tossed him about so much that he couldn't get his bearings to teleport.

She was growing tired from creating the whirlpool, so she decided to finish this game. Stopping her vortex, she gathered up most of her strength. Bringing her arms above her head, she created a large wall of water. Then, she dropped her arms and the water, knocking Kurt to the ground.

Extremely tired, Haley collapsed to her knees. She wasn't sure that she liked this whole mutant business. Meanwhile, Logan walked over to Kurt.

"You knocked him out," he said menacingly. Haley cringed, afraid of being in trouble. Then, Logan cracked a smile. "Extra credit."

She giggled. "He'll be okay, right?"

Wolverine nodded. "Come here; you need to wake him up." Haley came forward to the unconscious body. "Try dumping a dose of cold water on him."

Carefully, she splashed Kurt's face with a little bit of cold water. He started coughing. Then, he opened his eyes and sat up. "That happens almost every time," Kurt said rather cheerfully.

---

"Heard about your embarrassing defeat yesterday," Kitty teased Kurt as they walked to the mall.

"Hey, it was Capture the Elf. I always lose at that game. It is like the rule."

She giggled. "I just find it funny that you got beat up on your crush who has only had her powers for one day."

"Hilarious."

"But I do feel bad that she has to do double training sessions alone. If only her powers had developed earlier. She wouldn't be so far behind."

"I know, and Haley has to start school tomorrow. Has anyone told her about the Brotherhood?"

"They haven't caused any trouble since Mystique has been missing."

"It's only been a week."

"Still…"

Kurt laughed. "You are just trying to protect your boyfriend." Kitty glared at him and then pouted for a few minutes.

Kitty nearly ran towards Lance when she saw him. The fact that their allegiances weren't the same didn't stop the feelings they had for each other. She made him do things he would normally never do and visa versa.

As the couple walked off, Kurt felt sorry for himself. Yes, he was a goof-off. That didn't mean he didn't want love, though. His appearance was a curse to himself.

---

Back at the mansion, Rogue and Haley were sharing a little quality time together. This mainly consisted of the two sitting in the same room and reading. Neither of them annoyed each other; however, just the presence of the other in the room was, in a sense, comforting.

Rogue looked up from her book. She decided that if she was going to be living with this girl now, then at least she should try to get to know her. "So," her voice broke the silence. "You're…uh… starting school tomorrow?"

Haley looked up. "Yeah, I am."

"You nervous?"

"I guess so. It's a new school… Any tips?"

She thought for a moment. "Ignore the Brotherhood."

"The Brotherhood?"

Rogue nodded. "There's Pietro, also known as Quicksilver. Fred, he's called Blob. Avalanche is Lance. And Todd is Toad."

"Are they mutants, too?" Haley asked.

"Yeah. But they're real creeps. Leave them alone."

She shook her head in amazement. "It's amazing that there are so many mutants at that school."

"Things can get a little iffy around there sometimes."

Silence lapsed between the two for a few moments. "Is it always this quiet around here?"

"I wish."

Haley stretched, her bones cracking. She smiled bashfully at the noise. "Sorry, I just had like three training sessions in a row. One-on-one."

"Ouch, I've been there before." Rogue glanced at the clock. "Listen, I better get started on my homework. I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't even started yet. I'll see you around."

Evan came into the room. "Hey, Splash."

"Porcupine."

"Nice. I see you're learning how to fit in here, well."

"Guess so." She looked around. "I'm tired of reading this book. Any suggestions on something to do for fun?" He smiled slyly, an idea formulating in his head.

A few minutes later, Haley was zooming around on his skateboard. Too bad she wasn't any good at it and had already crashed into a tree three times, into a bench, and into the pool. By the time she had finished she was sorer than after her training sessions.

"Never again," she told him. Evan laughed. She pointed a finger at him. "You knew that was going to happen!" He just shrugged.


	8. Chapter 8

It was fifteen minutes before they had to go, and no one had seen Haley. "Where is she?" Scott muttered impatiently. "She's going to miss her first day." 

"Relax, Scott, she's probably just nervous," Jean replied. She turned to Kitty. "Can you go check her room?" Kitty nodded and walked off with her apple in hand.

Upstairs, Haley was frantically searching through her wardrobe. When Kitty entered, she was assaulted by flying clothes. Haley was murmuring inaudibly to herself. "What's going on in here?" Kitty asked.

Looking up at her visitor, Haley blushed lightly. "Sorry, it's technically my first day of school. I'm just really nervous…"

"Don't be you'll be fine." Kitty walked over to a cute top that was strewn on Haley's bed. "What about this one?" she asked, picking it up.

"I wore it to school, _last week_," Haley replied, exasperated. "They've already seen it." Kitty giggled.

"What?"

"You didn't go to this school last week. Remember? First day?"

Haley blushed again. "Sorry, I'm just freaking out a little."

---

Haley walked into the main office. "Hello, my name is Haley Wilson. It's my first day here," she said the secretary.

"The new one from the Xavier Institute?" She nodded. "Okay, well we currently don't have a principle, so I'll just pull up your schedule for you. You can sit down while you wait."

A few minutes later, the secretary handed Haley a couple sheets of paper. The first page has your schedule. The second one has your locker number and combo. There is also a map; the rest is just some information stuff I'm supposed to give you. Don't worry about being late to your first class. The teacher will understand."

"Thank you," she said standing up.

"You already have your required books?"

Thinking about the extra heavy back pack she was carrying, Haley nodded. "Good," the secretary said with a smile. "Have a good day and welcome to Bayville High Miss Wilson."

The bell rang and everyone was in class. Haley walked the empty hallways with her nose stuck to the map. She was putting away her unneeded books in her locker, when a gust of wind shot by. She shivered; getting the feeling she wasn't alone.

When she shut her locker, a boy with white hair was leaning against the lockers. Haley almost jumped. "New girl, huh?" he asked, quickly.

"Yup."

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"My parents."

"Right…right…" He was silent for a second. "Names Pietro," he said at last, extending his hand.

The name rang a bell. "I've heard about you…"

"I know. I'm famous among the female species."

She laughed. "I don't think that's it. My names Haley, by the way," she said taking his hand.

"Cool. See you around then." She nodded and then looked back at her schedule. When she looked up Pietro was no where in sight.

Haley was bothered by the fact that she couldn't remember where she had heard of Pietro. Sometimes, she could have a real lousy memory. It had to have been recent though. She could ask one of the others later.

Much to her surprise, Haley found her class rather easily. Not wanting to be rude, she knocked on the door and waited for her teacher to let her in.

"Hi, I'm Haley a new student here."

The old woman that was her teacher smiled. "Yes, welcome to my English class. Haley…"

"Wilson."

"Right, let me introduce you to everyone."

The frail teacher led Haley to the front of the room. Haley felt like she was being auctioned off. Everyone's eyes were on her. It was definitely awkward.

"Class, we have a new student; her name is Haley Wilson. Haley, why don't you go sit next to Miss Pryde over there?" she said pointing to an empty seat. Haley sighed in relief when she realized that it was Kitty.

"This is totally awesome," Kitty said as Haley sat down.

"Yeah," she said with a sigh. "I'm just glad I know someone. I know I won't be that lucky the entire day, though."

The teacher began class. Remembering her question about Pietro, Haley got out a small piece of paper and quickly wrote: _Where have I heard __Pietro__ from?_ Then she stealthily flicked onto Kitty's desk.

_Uh…from somebody in the mansion?__ He's a part of the Brotherhood._

A light bulb went off in Haley's head. _Thanks. I just remembered Rogue told me about them._

---

Lance pushed Kitty against the locker and lightly kissed her. Taken aback, she pushed him away. "Lance!" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" he replied, frustrated.

"Not in school!"

"Why not?"

"Well for one, it's school. Two, people might see."

Lance realized what she was saying. "So what if one of losers you hang out with find out?"

"You know very well what will," Kitty said sternly.

He sighed. "Well, can I least walk you to class?" She nodded. Then, Pietro zoomed by.

"Hey, buddy," he said, steering Lance away from her. "Scram, Kitty Cat."

She huffed and walked away. Lance looked regretfully back at her. "What do you want, Pietro?" he asked, foully.

"Jeez, sorry. I just want to let you know that there is a new girl in school, and I call dibs on her. Although, it looks like you actually are serious about dating an X-geek. Bye." With that, Quicksilver was in search of Haley.

---

It was lunch time. Scott wanted to check up on Haley so he stood at the entrance of the cafeteria waiting for her.

"Hey, Scott," she said as she walked by. He fell in stride with her.

"How's your first day been so far?"

"Okay, I guess. Kitty's in my first period class."

"Anything exciting happen?"

"Nope."

"Finding your way around okay?"

"Yes… What is this, an interrogation?"

"Sorry," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Let's get some food. You probably are starving by now. As I recall, you didn't eat any breakfast." She gratefully nodded at his suggestion.

The two grabbed food and sat down at the usual table. Kurt soon joined them. "How's it going Scott and Haley?"

"How do you know me?" Haley asked suspiciously.

"It's Kurt, Haley," Scott said to help out her confusion.

She tilted her head. "Oh yeah…inducer-thingy, got it." Then, she looked at his plate in grotesque. "Are you going to eat all that?"

"Every last bite," he said while chomping on his sub.

Jean sat down. "It has been such a long day," she said, exasperated. "Duncan and I got in another fight."

"What was this one about?" Scott asked.

"It's too hard to keep track…"

"So how do you like Bayville?" Kurt asked.

"It's okay," Haley said. "By the way, I had a little chat with Pietro."

"Ugh, the scum."

Overhearing their conversation, Scott became alert. "Pietro? Are you okay, Haley? Did that jerk do anything to you?"

Haley waved away his fears. "It's fine, Scott. We just had talked for a bit, that's all."

"Hey guys," Kitty said as she sat down. "What's going on?" Scott gave her a look. "Jeez…I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, okay?" she said, thinking that he had found out about Lance.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," Kurt, Kitty, and Jean replied at the same time. He shook his head in confusion.

Evan sat down next to Haley. "How's it going, everyone?" They all just shook their heads.

---

"Where is she?" Quicksilver murmured to himself.

"Where's who?" Blob asked.

"None of your business."

"Yo, I've never seen anyone so wigged out for a girl," Toad said.

"Can it, slime."

Toad turned to Blob. "It looks like you and I are the only sensible ones left around here."

"What about, Lance?" They both looked at Lance who was looking lovingly off in Kitty's direction. "Oh…"

Lance, who hadn't been paying attention for the last few minutes, suddenly realized that there was a new face at the X-men table. "Look you guys, I new loser." The other three looked in direction of the other mutants.

"No…" Pietro moaned. In a split-second he was standing next to where Haley was sitting. "Are you serious?" he nearly screeched.

Everyone from the manor now had their focus on Pietro. "What?" she asked.

"What are you doing _here?_"

"Sitting, Pietro…"

"Leave," Scot snarled.

"What are you going to do if I don't, goggle head?" Pietro quickly quipped. He turned back to Haley. "So, do you seriously go to the institute?"

"Um…yeah."

Pietro turned, fuming. Then, he stormed off in the direction of the Brotherhood, only acknowledging them laughing at him by flipping them off.

"Yo, it looks like I'm the only smart one around here," Toad beamed.

Back at the X-men table, they were still laughing. "That just made my day better," Jean said between giggles.

"I wish I had that on film," Evan chuckled.

Haley sat there in the midst of their laughter, still blushing from the incident. She kind of felt bad about the whole thing, but if the two groups hate for each other was that great, then maybe she shouldn't.

Kurt watched Haley out of the corner of his eye. He was busy wishing that she didn't like Pietro.


	9. Chapter 9

**I took the time to add in more descriptions :)**

When Haley arrived back at the institute, the professor contacted her. He wanted her in his office. Mentally exhausted from a day full of asking for directions, getting lost, and introducing herself, she trudged to his office silently.

"Professor?" she asked as she knocked on the huge mahogany door.

"Come in, Haley." She pushed open the large doors and walked into Professor X's spacious office. He motioned for her to take a seat. She quietly plopped down on one of the leather chairs. "How was your first day?"

"Good. A little tiring, but no biggie," Haley responded truthfully.

He kindly smiled at her. "Well that's good because in an hour you will join the other X-men in the Danger Room."

Her eyes widened in fear. "Are...you sure that's...such a good...idea?" she said, fumbling with her words. Haley had only had her powers for a few days, and already she was going to be training with the others? That couldn't end well.

"Storm and Wolverine seem to think that you will be able to handle yourself. I have the utmost confidence that they are right about this."

She sighed, not believing that she was ready. However, if this meant no more one on one sessions, then Haley would at least give it a shot. "Okay, Professor, if you think so. Is that all?"

"Yes, you may go now." Wearily, she lifted herself out of her chair and made her way to the door.

Meanwhile, Kurt was quite content. After lunch, he and Haley had discovered that they were in the same gym class. It was quite a nice surprise for him to have a class with her. Considering they aren't in the same grade, that was the only class they could possibly have together.

He was on his way down to the kitchen, trying to read a book for his English class at the same time, he accidentally crashed into Haley who was worriedly staring at her feet. "Sorry about that," he said while helping her up. Kurt was embarrassed that he had bumped into her. He also was a little frustrated that he had lost his page.

"It's okay," she replied, her eyes looking far away.

He studied her for a moment. "Why do you look so nervous?"

"I'm supposed to join you guys in the Danger Room today," Haley blurted looking more nervous as the words tumbled out of her mouth.

"Oh, I see." Kurt remembered his first time training with the others. It wasn't exactly one of his fonder memories.

"Yeah, so I'm just busy freaking out." She tucked a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear.

He smiled at Haley. "I'll stay out of your way."

She giggled. "Thanks, Kurt."

"What are you planning on doing while you freaked out?" Kurt was confused as to why he was asking this.

Shrugging, Haley said, "I guess I'll e-mail my friends. Three days away from them, and I'm nearly dying. It's kind of pathetic."

"What was your excuse for leaving so early?"

"I just blamed it on my parents. I figured that was the easiest way out. I don't like the secret-keeping part of this…" She trailed off getting that glazed over look again.

Deciding that she wasn't going to talk much, Kurt decided he should leave. "Nobody does. I'll see you later, my stomach is yelling at me."

"Bye."

---

Haley yelped as she jumped out of the fire of some laser gun. She was beginning to feel that her water blasts weren't enough. Yes, if done correctly they had broken the guns, but there seemed to be just too many. She glanced around the room nervously, hoping that the others might be able to help her out. However, they all had their hands full at the moment too.

They had been running simulations for a while now. This was about the fifth one. Haley was starting to get tired. She was constantly wondering when they were going to get to the finish line. Putting her hand against a wall, she took a short break.

Not paying attention for a moment was apparently a bad idea on Tidal Wave's part. As she looked up she realized that she was about to get full on shot at. Her muscles clenched in anticipation, knowing this was going to be a direct hit. Haley begged herself to move, but she couldn't

Then, she wasn't standing in the line of fire. "What?" she thought out loud.

"Rescue courtesy of Nightcrawler," Kurt said as he let go of her arm, smiling cunningly. His tail whipped around being pleased by his save.

"Thanks, blue boy, I owe you one," Haley said, kissing him on the cheek as she normally did when people helped her out. Luckily for him, Kurt's fur covered up the blood rising to his cheeks.

---

"How long did you say he's been at it?" Lance asked irritably as he watched Pietro back up and then speed towards Mystique's locked door, over and over again. He had come home to be greeted by two annoyingly happy members of the Brotherhood.

"Pretty much since we got home from school, yo," Toad replied.

Lance sighed in disbelief. "That was hours ago."

"Looks like Pietro has fallen off his rocker," Fred said with a chuckle.

The three shook their heads in wonderment and went off to watch TV. A few minutes later, Pietro snagged the bag of chips out of Blob's hands. He was acting as if nothing out of the ordinary had been going on at all.

"Well, that was a workout," he said as he threw himself onto the couch.

"What were you supposed to be doing?" Lance asked incredulously.

"Thinking. You should really try it some time, rock head."

"How can you think when you're ramming yourself into a door at ninety miles per hour?" Avalanche replied, choosing to ignore Pietro's comment.

"And I thought I was the weird one," Toad mumbled.

"So are you all done thinking, Pietro?" Fred asked, scratching his head in a puzzled manner.

"Yup. I know exactly what I'm going to do." The others looked at him in question. What was he going to do? Why was he going to do this? Even though he felt their stares, Pietro didn't look up to acknowledge their confusion.

---

"That was so fast!" Evan exclaimed as he finished timing Kurt's attempt to devour an entire cake. All the other mutants stared in astonishment. The caked had been devoured in no more than two minutes. That had to be a record. 

"Thank you," he said, grinning.

"Do you know what's faster?"

"What?"

"Haley's lover!" Evan finished with a smug smile.

"Hey!" Haley screeched, objecting to his comment.

The entire room was filled with laughter. "Seriously, Haley," Kitty assured her. "You can't go out with a member of the Brotherhood. They are stupid, not to mention, like, our enemies."

"I'm not going out with him!" She sent a blast of water at Evan, being further frustrated by him. He fell off the stool. Everyone laughed harder at this.

When he got up, he snarled, "You are so going down!" Haley squealed and ran out of the room. He lunged after her a wicked smile on his face.


	10. Chapter 10

Lance needed to find Kitty the next day. He wanted to warn her about Pietro, who had been wearing a smug smile ever since he finished "thinking." That stupid smile probably wasn't good news for the X-men. It never was. Luckily, he found her alone at her locker. Lance walked right up to her without hesitation.

"Hey," she said when she saw him. She continued gathering the stuff she needed for her first class of her day out of her locker.

"Hey…" he replied, not sure how to explain the situation to her. He never had really thought through what he was going to say, so he now planned on dancing around the subject until he figured out what to do.

"What is it?" Kitty asked sharply, sensing that something was up.

Lance rubbed the back of his neck. He had been caughte. "Well, you see Pietro-" He caught a glance of Kitty's death glare triggered by this name. He inwardly cringed at that look.

"Pietro what?" she asked impatiently.

"He's up to something. I don't know what. He hasn't told us anything yet. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." Lance felt so stupid as the words tumbled out of his mouth. What was wrong with him? How come he just couldn't form better sentences? He looked back up at Kitty's death glare and remembered way. She was scary as hell when she wanted to be.

Kitty slammed her locker, "He better stay away from Haley. If that dick messes with her, he'll find himself stuck inside of Blob!" Then, she walked away. Lance stood there in shock, wondering if that would really happen.

---

School was over, and Haley was just finishing getting her things from her locker. This day had been more exhausting from thre previous one, probably because of the Danger Room session they had yesterday. When she closed her locker, Pietro was leaning against the it. "Hello," he said, a smirk on his face.

"Hey. Look…I'm sorry about lunch yesterday," she apologized, feeling bad about how he had been treated by her friends.

He waved it away. "Really was nothing big."

"Really?" she asked surprised. Haley studied his face to see if there was a hint of lie in it. However, then she remembered that she wasn't really good at reading people's expressions.

"Well," Pietro dragged out. "On one condition."

Haley frowned. She knew there had to be something. She was just hoping that it wasn't unreasonable. "What would that be?" Haley asked suspiciously.

"This…" He quickly gripped her hips and pulled her in for a kiss. She hadn't had any time to think about it. Originally, Haley tried to pull away, but his grip was strong and it felt kind of good. She hadn't been kissed in months. It was a nice change of pace for her.

They broke a moment for air. They stared at each other with questioning eyes. Then, to both of their surprise, they started kissing again.

Meanwhile, Kitty and Kurt were searching for Haley. "Ugh," Kitty sighed in frustration. "Where is that girl? I don't wanna have to walk home. Scott is so impatient."

"Well, we should be able to find her soon…" Kitty replied. Kurt looked down at his watch. Each moment that they didn't find Haley was another moment that Scott might have "forgotten" to take them home. "At least, I hope so."

They turned the corner. Kitty was greeted by the image of Haley and Pietro making out against the lockers. It felt like a knife in her gut. She was furious at Haley. Luckily, Kurt hadn't spotted the two yet. Wanting to spare his feelings, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the scene.

"What are you doing?" he asked as she tugged him along.

Kitty frowned, trying to make up a lie as fast as she could. "I…uh…I think I left one of my books in the library."

"Can't that wait?"

"I might forget, Kurt!" she said with urgency.

Haley finally broke the kiss. "Pietro…" she breathed. "This isn't right."

He furrowed his brow. "It felt pretty right to me."

She shook her head. "I mean, we are supposed to hate each other! Everyone at the institute cannot stand you. I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual for you."

"That's ridiculous! I mean Kitty and Lance are together. Why should it be any different for us?" he asked, worried that he might not get what he wanted.

Haley remembered what Kitty had said the night before and became angry. Why was it okay for her to date someone from the Brotherhood and not her? Some friend! "Are you saying…Kitty and Lance are going out?" she double checked.

"Well, yeah…"

She nodded, slowly. "That's what I thought you said…" Haley turned and left, stuck in her thoughts.

"Uh…so see you tomorrow!" Pietro called after the silent girl. He leaned against the locker and sighed, hoping he hadn't ruined his chances.

Scott was outside the school, leaning against his car. He wished that the younger kids would be faster. Then, he saw Haley storm out of the school. What had took that girl so long?

"You need a ride?" he called to her. She continued walking, not even bothering to so much as look at him. "I'll take that as a no," he mumbled to himself.

Great! He has waited all this time for Kitty and Kurt to find Haley, and she wasn't even riding. Where were the two, anyway? He sighed and continued to wait. Life could be so unfair sometimes.

---

When she got to the mansion, Haley rushed to go find Kitty. She thought that maybe a walk would calm her down. However, she didn't feel any less angry at Kitty.

She decided to go to her room and maybe give herself a few more minutes before she exploded at Kitty. Maybe it was all just a misunderstanding. At least she hoped it was. It _had_ to be a misunderstading. A few minutes later, Haley found herself pacing across her bedroom floor; her blood still boiling.

There was a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" she asked harshly.

"Kitty…"

"Come in," she said, deciding to get it over with. Haley didn't want to stay mad, and it appeared that she wasn't going to calm down any time soon. She just needed to get this over and done with.

Little did she know, that Kitty was mad too.


	11. Chapter 11

"Are you crazy?" Kitty hissed as she closed the door. Her eyes were lit with anger. Nobody got to hurt her bestfriend. Especially not some stupid water girl. 

"What?" Haley snarled. She had thought that Kitty was her friend. And in less than a week she'd already proven that she couldn't be trusted.

Kitty glared at her for playing dumb. She whisper-screamed at her so that no one would hear. "Pietro?!"

"Lance?!" she shot back. The venom in their voices were matched.

Kitty's heart sank. "What?" How had Haley found out about that? Had Kurt told her?

Haley advanced to her. "Oh, I know all about your little secret. However, you have the audacity to tell me who I shouldn't date…" Each word she spat out was no louder than a whisper, but they stung.

"I didn't…" she tried to defend herself.

"You didn't what? Think I'd find out? Think it mattered? Of course it matters. Do you think that you have the right to date whoever you want, but I don't?"

Kitty, taken aback, decided to attack Haley. "You were kissing a guy you don't even know."

She blinked, not sure how Kitty could have known about that. "Who, Pietro?"

"Yes!"

"He kissed me!" she cried in her defense.

Kitty crossed her eyes and glared. "You were definitely not trying to stop him. Kurt almost saw."

Haley furrowed her brow. Was that really Kitty's best attack? "What does Kurt have anything to do with this?"

"He likes you, and you just go around kissing any smooth-talker you meet," she blurted, not even realizing it.

"Kurt likes me?" Haley blinked. Kurt like her. He liked her. Did she like him?

Kitty slapped her hands over her mouth. "Shoot… Please don't let him know you know! That was an accident!"

"Yeah, whatever…" Haley said walking out onto her balcony. Her mind now preoccupied with other thoughts. She didn't feel like fighting with Kitty anymore. "Just close the door on your way out."

Kitty put her hand on Haley's shoulder. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to blow up at you. It's just Kurt is like my brother. I don't want to see him hurt." She expected her to turn around, but she didn't.

"It's okay."

"And you know that I can't let everyone around here know about Lance…" Kitty continued, trying to make Haley see where she was coming from.

"I understand."

"So, what are you going to do?" Kitty asked as she lifted herself up onto the balcony railing, trying to see her expression. Haley's face was void of feeling. She looked stuck in her head.

"I don't know…"

"Do you like Pietro?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you like Kurt?"

"I don't know…" She had given the same response three times in a row. Kitty wanted to shake her in frustration, but restrained herself. She also wanted to fulfill the threat she had told Lance, but she decided against that too.

"You sound uncertain," Kitty tried, wanting to get some information out of her.

"I am."

"Well, just think things through."

"I will."

Kitty sighed, finally figuring out she wasn't to get much out of the girl right now. So she left Haley to her thoughts.

---

At the Brotherhood house, Pietro sat on the couch, arms folded with a very smug smile on his face. He still hadn't told anyone what he had done and didn't plan to yet.

Lance eyed Pietro whose smile and deepened since he got back from school. Whatever he had been planning, Lance was sure that Pietro had followed through and succeeded.

He started walking upstairs, wondering if tomorrow he would find Pietro in Fred. Lance stopped and smiled at the thought. He began hoping that that would actually happen.

---

Kitty hoped that no one had heard the spat that she and Haley had just had. It would be a bad thing if the entire mansion knew about this. However, no one showed any signs of having heard anything.

When Haley came out from her room she had put on a brilliant façade so the others would not notice that her mind was somewhere else. The only time that it became pretty evident was during the Danger Room session that day, but she was able to cover up her flukes nicely.

After the DR session, the X-men had some free time. It was towards the end of the semester, and while most school would pile on the homework, Bayville High currently didn't have a principle. The teachers wanted a little bit of a break too, so they were taking full advantage of the lack of authority by not giving assignments that would needed to be checked.

"Kurt, give it back!" Kitty squealed as the elf hung upside down on the chandelier with her i-pod in hand.

He wagged one of his six fingers at her. "What's the magic word?"

"Now!" she growled, stamping her foot on the ground.

Rogue walked past the two and shook her head. Sometimes the other mutants in the manor could be completely unbearable. "What is wrong with y'all?" she muttered to herself.

"Come on, Kurt, that's no fair!"

"Seems pretty fair to me!"

"What is wrong with you two?" Haley shrieked as she saw the two arguing. She had a headache from all the thinking and wasn't exactly in the mood for their antics.

"That's what I would like to know!" Rogue called from upstairs.

Kitty crossly folded her arms. "He took my i-pod."

Haley held up her hands as if surrendering. "I would help, but water isn't too good for electronics."

Kurt teleported behind Haley as if for protection from Kitty's anger. "She's right. There is no way you're getting this back." Haley turned around and tackled him. Kitty's i-pod flew up in the air. Luckily she managed to catch it before it crashed to the ground.

"Hey!" Kurt screeched, angry that he had been tackled. He then teleported back up to the chandelier.

"What the hell?" Haley cried as she was brought up there with him. Kurt hadn't realized that he brought her with him, so he wasn't holding on to her. This led to the inevitable fall of Haley Wilson.

The other two mutants stared in awe, both frozen in their spots. Kitty snapped out of her daze. "Help her, Kurt!"

However, he found himself unable to move. Kitty realized that she was the only one who could help. She lined herself under the girls falling body. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for the shock. It never came though.

After a few seconds, Kitty opened her eyes. Haley was suspended in air right above her. She was so glad that Jean had been able to get here in time. Kitty looked around, but didn't see Jean anywhere.

"Uh…you guys…" Haley finally managed. "I'm not…falling anymore…"

"You're right…" Kitty said slowly. "Are you doing that?"

"Doing what?"

"Not falling…"

Haley looked down at Kitty, incredulously. "Well obviously," she replied.

Kitty shook her head, realizing how stupid she sounded. "I mean, are you, like, causing that?"

"I, uh, guess so."

"Alright…do you want to come down now?" she asked, not quite sure what to say or do.

"I don't know how to…"

She sighed. "Kurt, you wuss! Come and get Haley down."

He finally snapped out of his shock. "What, Kitty?"

"You want to help her down?" She was worried for her fuzzy friend.

"Who?"

"Me, remember?" Haley said, waving up at him.

His eyes widened. "Oh, yeah!" A few seconds later the two were back on the ground. "Sorry about that…"

They both looked at him funny.


	12. Chapter 12

"Well," Professor Xavier said as he removed his hands from Haley's forehead. "It seems that your powers are advancing." 

Frustrated, she shook her head. "But, I've had them for less than a week…" She sighed. "So what is this, exactly?"

"It appears that you are able to 'swim' through air. You are able to do this by manipulating the water molecules that are in the air." The professor paused for a moment. "We can deal with this later." He manuevered his chair so he was facing the door. "Kitty, Kurt, come in."

The two shyly opened the door and walked into the office. "So as you all have probably guessed, you are going to be punished for what happened early," he told the teens formally.

"Yes, professor," they all mumbled with their heads down.

"Well, first of all, you won't leave the mansion besides school for the next week." Their spirits slightly lifted at the pretty soft punishment. "Haley, you will have extra training lessons everyday until the others' punishments end. This will help you especially now that your powers are developing further." Their spirits all dropped. The hope of getting off easy was gone "Kitty, you will tutor Evan for the rest of the semester. Kurt, you will cook all the meals for the same time."

"Yes, professor," they said in unison.

"You may go now."

The three nodded, slowly walked out the door. Once outside, they all groaned. "Sorry about that, you guys," Kurt mumbled as he leaned against the wall.

Haley put her hand on his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it…" He looked up smiled at her. She noticed her heart flutter.

"Sorry about almost killing you."

She laughed and grinned wryly. "Just don't steal Kitty's i-pod again."

---

"Haley," Quicksilver greeted the blonde the next day at school.

She bit her lip, not knowing what to do. "Hey, Pietro…" He wrapped his arm around her bare stomach, causing tingles to spread on her skin. She pulled away instantly. "Watch it," the teen warned him.

He was taken aback. Pointing to himself he asked, "Am I the only one who remembers yesterday?"

"No, I remember. I'm just still not sure if it's such a good idea. I don't know if it's right."

Haley's deep galre caught Pietro off gaurd. "Right?" he asked, not understanding.

"Yeah, I'll see you later…" She walked away leaving, Pietro speechless for possibly the first time in his life.

---

"I can't believe this," Kurt complained, dragging his feet along. "Swimming!"

"What's so wrong with swimming?" Haley asked, a little offended by his lack of enthusiasm.

"Easy for you to say water girl. You don't have fur… How are we supposed to explain the potential blue fur in the pool?"

"They'll think it was Jared," Haley said, referring to the guy who had his hair dyed almost the exact same color as Kurt's fur.

He sighed. "I guess that will work."

"Of course it will." She sighed, frustrated. "I can't believe I can't go anywhere for a week. I mean sure I don't have that many friends around here besides you guys, but it's still depressing." She stopped herself short, hoping not to sound too whiney.

"Yah, well I think Kitty has it worst. She has to tutor Evan." He cracked a smile. "That won't be an easy task."

Haley scrunched her nose. "I can only imagine. Well, I'll see you later blue boy."

She sighed as the walked away from each other. She wasn't sure what to do. Every minute she spent with Nightcrawler made her like him more. Was the entire thing Pietro just lust?

---

Kurt sat on the ledge of his balcony. It was past dinnertime, and he had already done his homework. Being grounded, he had nothing to do. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the cool breeze whip against his face.

Getting an idea, he teleported to outside of Haley's door. He knocked on it three times. "Come in," she said. He skipped the door part and teleported to her bed.

"Hey, Kurt," she said, smelling the brimstone from behind her. She was currently IM'ing some of her Florida friends. "What's up?"

"Nothing, it is so boring around here," he complained to his preoccupied friend. "How about you?"

"My ex is apparently missing. I don't really care about him though; he's a dick." Haley sent another message and then clicked to close a window. She turned around on her chair to give him her undivided attention. "Where is everyone?"

"Out," he responded curtly.

"They're so lucky. What about Kitty?"

"She's sleeping."

Haley arched an eyebrow at this. "At six thirty?"

"It's a cat nap," he said with a smile, admiring his pun.

She laughed and flopped on her bed next to him. Kurt wiggled over a little to give her more room. "I am exhausted," she emphasized each word. "Two training sessions in a row is torture. Why do they have to punish us so badly?"

Kurt mocked seriousness. "So we can learn responsibility and how to control our powers." She whacked him, not wanting to hear about it. Relaxing, closed her eyes.

"I might need to take a cat nap too," Haley murmured to him.

"Don't do that! I will be alone then." He yawned, his eye getting droopy. "Great now I'm tired too!"

Haley didn't reply. He muttered, "Haley?" She was asleep, and within a minute Kurt was too.

"Haley, do you have a CD I can borrow?" Kitty asked as she phased through the door. "I'm getting tired of my music collection." She saw the two lying on the bed together and giggled to herself and walked out.

**Oh, sorry about the shortness. Kind of a filler chapter. Trust me ;)**


	13. Haley and Kurt Oversleep

Kurt awoke from his nap, rested. He stretched out, some bones in his body cracking response. In the process, he accidently elbowed Haley. He had completely forgotten about what happened earilier. When he did recall, he was slightly embarrassed that he had fallen asleep there instead of leaving the room.

"Ow!" she moaned, holding her shoulder that had been hit.

He rolled over to look her in the face. "Oh, sorry, Haley. I forgot you were there. I didn't mean to wake you." His tail tiredly waved from side to side.

Haley gave a small shrug. "It's okay. I've been up…well for like five seconds…" she trailed off, looking away from his yellow eyes.

"Then, why didn't you wake me?"

Blushing, she fibbed, "Uh…well…I was too tired to move…" Well, actually, it wasn't a complete lie. When she had awoken earlier, she enjoyed his presence next to her. However, she was still very tired.

Kurt flashed her a full-fledged smile. "Well, thanks. What time is it?"

"I don't know. Let me go check…" She slid off the bed and walked over to her dresser. "It's seven forty-five-"

"That's not too bad."

"In the morning!" She nearly threw her clock against the wall. "Kurt, we have been asleep the entire night! We have half an hour to get to school!" Scurrying over to the bed she tugged on his shirt. "Get up fuzz ball!"

He groaned, slowly making his way to his feet. "We'll never make it in time. I didn't make breakfast or have any!" Kurt exclaimed, his barely awake mind beginning to function.

"Why didn't anyone wake us up?"

"I have no idea!" The two faced each other. Their eyes wide in panic.

"We don't have a way to get there!" She then looked at Kurt, getting an idea. "Could you teleport us to school?"

Sadly, the blue teen shook his head. "Not the entire way. It's too far!"

Haley sighed, looking up at him hopefully. "How about halfway?"

He nodded. "That I can do."

"Okay, well hurry up and get changed!"

Once Kurt was gone, Haley quickly changed. Not being able to take a shower, she put her hair in a ponytail and then put a baseball hat over it. She changed into a plain t-shirt and jeans, so her look appeared intentional.

Kurt was waiting for her outside her door, looking normal and all. "You're fast," she remarked, surprised.

"Image-inducer, remember?" He indicated to his watch.

She frowned. "Psh, lucky. I wish I didn't have to put so much effort into getting ready..."

He rolled his eyes. She was taking up too much time with her rambling. To shut her up he said, "Hold on." Haley took his hand and prepared for the teleporting. "Halfway to school," Kurt murmured as they found themselves in an ally. "We have ten minutes!" He shook his head. Why did girls have to take so long to get ready?

"Can you teleport us the other half there?" she asked hope in her eyes.

"Nein, I'm so tired." The demonic looking boy rested his back against the wall. Saying that had seemed to make him realize just how tired he was.

"I'm guessing nein means no," Haley muttered, frustrated.

"Oh, yes it does, sorry."

"So I'm guessing running isn't an option either?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, it looks like we're out of options. It looks like we're going to be grounded longer than we thought."

Haley had one last idea. It was probably dangerous, but it might just work. "Kurt, grab my hand," she instructed hastily.

"What are you planning on doing?" he wearily asked. Haley looked up. Kurt understood what she wanted to do. "No! You can't!"

"Why not!?" excliamed, frustrated. She did not want to have more extra training sessions.

"It's too risky. You've only recently learned how to use your power. Wait a minute! Do you even know how to use that power?"

She rolled his eyes. He had begun to rant now. There simply wasn't enough time for that. "It's worth a try. I rather do this than be stuck with more extra training sessions!" With that, she pushed off the ground, dragging Kurt with her. She kept ascending until they were above the clouds.

Kurt was nervous. "Are you sure I'm not too heavy for you?" The wind whipped against his silky fur. The sensation of flight like this was making him a little woozy as well.

"Yeah it's fine. To me, this is like swimming. In water, things are lighter, so it's easier for me to tow you with me than it would be in normal circumstances," Haley stated in manner like he had just asked if the sky was blue.

Within a few minutes, they came in view of the school. That's when Haley got tired. Her eyes began to droop. Despite having gone to sleep early, she was still mentally and pyhsically exhuasted from all the training. She wasn't perpared for this kind of thing yet. Her vision began to be invaded by black dots. The two mutants began falling to the ground rapidly.

"Shit, Haley!" Kurt cried. "You have terrible timing!" However, she didn't hear him because she was unconscious. He gathered up his energy and teleported them to a spot where they wouldn't be seen.

He held her limp body with great care. "Come on, Haley. Wake up!" Kurt shook her body, worried about her. "I told you this was a bad idea!"

She stirred, grinning wrly. "But it got us to school, didn't it?" He hugged her tightly.

"I was so worried. You are not doing that again," he scolded.

"Thanks for saving me," she replied, kissing him on the cheek. Kurt blushed. Luckily, nobody was ever able to tell.

Then, he did something that shocked them both. He grabbed her face and gently but strongly kissed her on the lips. She kissed back. And from this kiss, Haley learned a lot. She learned that she didn't feel this way about Pietro. She learned that she did feel very strongly about Kurt. She also learned that he was a very good kisser.


	14. Scott's in Trouble

Haley got to her first period class with a minute to spare. She decided that she would spend that minute killing Kitty and disposing of the evidence. The second part was only if there was enough time, though. "Why the hell didn't you wake me up?" she hissed, as she dropped her bookbag next her seat. 

She was slightly taken aback by Haley's reaction. "You and Kurt looked so cute together," she snickered in response.

Her eyes widened. "Oh my god, how many people saw?" Haley slumped down into her desk worried for the answer.

"Pretty much everyone…"

"What?" she screeched. She ignored the looks that she received from her other classmates.

Kitty shrugged. "Sorry…" She cracked up, not being able to keep a straight face. The whole situation was too funny. "How'd you guys manage to get to school? The prof, Mr. Logan, and Ms. Munroe left earlier this morning on some business." She chose her words carefully.

"How do you think?"

"He can't teleport all the way to school," Kitty said lowering her voice.

She made a face at the memor. "Yeah, I know. We had to swim part of the way, if you know what I mean." She paused for a moment, hoping the other mutant wouldn't take that in a sexual way as most "if you know what I mean's" were.

Kitty cringed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you through all that trouble. You're not mad, are you?" She was worried that her new friend still didn't trust her after their little fight.

Haley thought about the event that wouldn't have happened if they hadn't overslept. "No," she replied grinning.

"Good, besides it was all Scott's idea."

"Scott?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Kitty nodded, her ponytail bobbing up and down. "He said it'd be funny to teach you guys a lesson."

Haley frowned, thinking. "Well, he's on my hit list. Why'd he think that we needed to be taught a lesson, anyway?"

She rubbed the back of the neck, not quite sure as to how to put it. "Um…well he thought…you and Kurt had been uh…"

"OH MY GOD! He is so going to die! What about him and Jean?"

Kitty put her hand on Haley's shoulder to calm her down. "Don't worry, everyone else knows you guys hadn't, but we just didn't feel like arguing with him. You don't know how anal he can be when people go against him."

"I'm surprised Jean didn't stop him."

"She left early for a meeting," Kitty replied with a shrug.

"Just my luck," she muttered as the bell rang.

---

"Pietro, no," Haley said, knowing he was there before he said anything.

He furrowed his brow, confused as to what she meant. "No, what?"

"I can't be with you, okay?" she said with finality.

"You haven't even given me a chance!"

"I kissed you. What more of a chance do you need?"

"People can kiss others when they're drunk all the time. It doesn't mean anything. Come one, let me take you on a date."

"No, Pietro." With that said, Haley walked away from him. She thought that she had done her job and was now free of him. However, Pietro Maximoff is not easily deterred. He grinned devilishly, a plan already forming in his head.

---

Kurt's head had been light all day. She had accepted him. They had kissed! It seemed for once his looks didn't get in the way of a relationship. This might actually work out. This was good.

He walked to lunch, his stomach full of butterflies. It was a nice change from hunger. In fact, he had hardly noticed the fact that he didn't have breakfast that morning. However, that still didn't stop him from piling up more than the normal amount of food.

Kitty had spotted him. "Kurt," she said gleefully. "You have to see Haley she's going at it with Scott." She found this hilarious and was itching to get back to see the fight. Haley was really pissed.

He raised an eyebrow. "Scott's the reason why you guys didn't get waken up this morning," she replied to his silent question.

"When you say going at it, you don't mean they're using powers, right?" Kurt asked as he shoved a few fried in his mouth.

"No, she's just bitching him out in the courtyard, but it's still funny."

Kitty started going towards the exit, but Kurt grabbed her arm. "Katzchen!"

"What, Kurt?" she asked, anxious to get to the show.

He grinned at her. "She kissed me. Well, I kissed her, but she didn't pull away!"

She hugged her best friend, glad that Haley had made the right choice. "How did Mr. Wagner muster up that courage?"

"Haley kissed me on the cheek…and I decided it was then or never."

"Why'd she kiss you on the cheek?"

Nightcrawler was exasperated by Kitty's ignorance. "I saved her life, you ought to know that by now. You see her for first."

"She conveniently left out that entire part," she muttered.

"Scott Summers, you are SO going down today after school," Haley growled at him.

Scott crossed his arms and smiled smugly. "Why don't you teach me a lesson right now?"

"You very well know why the fuck I can't. I highly doubt that you could do any worse to me right now either. But how fucking dare you assume such things!" She stomped the ground angrily. "I mean I could assume what you and Jean have done! How dare you try to punish me for something that a) is false and b) is something that you would do if you had the chance! You are a fucking jackass." Haley sure did enjoy her swears when pissed.

"Excuse me?" Scott roared, now enraged that Jean was being brought into this. "You don't know anything about me and Jean!"

"And you don't fucking know anything about me and Kurt!" Haley shot back.

"Touché," Evan called from the sidelines.

"Shut up, porcupine!" they shouted in unison.

Kitty and Kurt ran out into the courtyard. "Haley, stop this," Kurt said as he grabbed her arm.

She whirled around. At first, she was mad, but then she saw him and her heart melted. "Kurt…" she said, her voice softer.

"I KNEW IT!" Scott yelled at her reaction.

Jean marched over to him. "Okay, and that is enough from you," she said dragging Cyclops away by the ear.

"Have you been there the entire time?" he asked meekly, cringing at the thought and the pain she was causing him.

"You bet, Mister." She turned to Haley. "You and I are going to need to have a little chat today after school."

Haley rolled her eyes. "I hope it's not _the_ talk…" Kitty giggled.

"Well, I guess I'm not getting a ride home from him," Haley sighed as she cooled off.


	15. Pietro Tries some Wooing

Later that day, Haley sat at her computer, IM'ing her friends back in Florida and "doing homework." Her door had appeared to open on its own. She frowned and went to close it. As she was about to do so, another hand pushed it shut before her. 

"Good evening, Haley," Pietro said with a sly smile.

Blinking a couple times, her brain tried to process what was going on. "What are you doing here?" she hissed at last.

"Wooing you," he replied simply as he scooped her up in his arms. Running down the balcony, he took Haley away from the mansion's premises. She tried to say something, but they were going so fast that she couldn't even open her mouth much less speek.

He stopped in an alley beside a restuarant. Haley finally caught her breath. "What the hell is wrong with you!" she cried, panting from the lack of oxygen.

Pietro grabbed her hand and led her towards the entrance. "I'm taking you out to dinner."

"Uh…no you're not. I told you no already. Mulitiple times, actually. When are you going to get the hint?" Yet a few minutes later, she found herself ordering a meal. "How did you manage to get me to agree?" she asked, frustrated at how weak she was. She shouldn't be here. Somebody at the institute would notice she's gone soon enough. When they do, then everyone else will know as well. She was so screwed.

Grinning, Pietro said, "I'm a ladies' man, it's what I'm made to do." He took a sip of his soda, surveying the surroundings. Like Haley, he too was worried about what would happen if somebody found out he had taken her away. However, he was worried about his own hide. It wasn't that he was being selfish or anything. Haley already had a built in alibi. She had nothing to fear.

"Cocky." She studied his face, noting that it had the slightest hint of worry in it. "Did I mention that I'm grounded and not into you?"

He smiled, waving away her comments. "I'm from the Brotherhood. When you say that I kidnapped you, they will believe you. It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened," he told her. "As for the second part, that can be changed." Pietro raised an eyebrow, looking very sure of himself.

Haley tried her hardest not to enjoy herself. She really did. Constantly, she would remind herself of Kurt, but the stupid jerk always ended up making her do something that she didn't want to do.

---

Back at the mansion, Kurt was pacing nervously. "Where is she?" he asked for about the thirtieth time.

"We're trying to find out, Kurt. Calm down," Kitty told him, secretly as worried for her as Kurt was. The blue elf didn't say anything more, but reverted to growling. "Okay, seriously, what is up with this new growling thing of yours?" She was flustered enough as it. The whole growling thing was kind of creepy and definately not helping the situation.

He shot her a glare. "How could the video cameras not have seen anything? Why didn't the prof. sense the invader?" Kurt was getting more hyped up with each passing moment.

"You know that he was busy working with Rogue." Then, it hit Kitty. "Pietro," she growled.

Stopping in his tracks, he asked, "You think he did this?"

"I know he did."

"Let's go," Kurt snarled, wanting to punch Quicksilver in the face.

Kitty furrowed her brow. "Don't you think we should tell the others?" He didn't reply. He just grabbed her arm and teleported them to the Brotherhood house.

She knocked on the door. Luckily, Lance answered it. "Kitty?"

"No, it's the Easter Bunny," Kurt said impatiently.

She lightly shoved the furry teen aside aside, wishing that he would just take a chill pill. "Uh, Lance, do you know where Pietro is?"

"He left about thirty minutes ago, without a word. Why?"

"That's about the same time that Haley disappeared," Kitty mumbled to Kurt. She decided to ignore Lance's question. "Do you know where he was going?"

He rolled his eyes at the two. "No."

"Gee, thanks for the help, Lance," she said angrily. Kitty felt that her boyfriend should at least pretend to be interested when she was talking to him.

"What else do you want me to say, Kitty?" he asked indignantly.

Kurt stormed away, not wanting to hear anymore of this pointless conversation. She trotted after him, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. "Stop right there, Kurt!" she instructed, her patience wearing thin.

Feeling helpless, he complied. "We need to find her," he said, his voice cracking. It had meant to sound _way _more forceful than it did.

"We will, but we should go back to the mansion. There's not much more we can do right now. Logan's out patrolling the streets. If he catches her scent, we'll find her. But if we get in anymore trouble, then it won't really matter, because we'll be grounded for a lot longer than we already are."

"Fine."

---

"You were on a date with Quicksilver?" Logan snarled at Haley as they rode back to the mansion.

She had to defend herself. "No! I wasn't he took me there against my will! I had nothing to do with it!" She hoped that he would believe the truth...although the truth looked pretty shabby.

"You looked pretty willing when I walked in to find you two making out. Do you know what you have put us through?" She involuntarily cringed. However, Haley wasn't about to back down. They had to believe her!

"Stop! He does that to me. I don't know how, but I honestly didn't want to be there. Just let me tell my side of the story! The professor will tell you that I'm telling the truth."

"You better be, Blondie. Otherwise, you are grounded until you're my age!" he threatened.

"How old is that?" She made a face, knowing he wouldn't see it.

"I'm somewhere in my eighties."

"Joy."

**I have a feeling some people are mad about this chapter. Sorry! I know reversals suck big time, but it'll be okay. you'll see :)**


	16. Chapter 16

"She's telling the truth, as bizarre as it may sound," The professor confirmed that Haley's story was legitimate. As childish as it was, she stuck her tongue out at Wolverine. She was just so glad that they were going to listen to her, and she wouldn't be punished. 

Rocking back and forth on her heels, she asked, "Can I go now, Professor?"

"Yes, Haley, get some rest," he instructed her wearily, forming a steeple with his fingers.

She quietly retreated to her room, embarrassed that once again she had found herself kissing Pietro and enjoying it. Only this time it was worse because only that morning had she confirmed that she had feelings for Kurt. She was stupid. She wanted to bang her head against the wall until she got some sense.

Knocking on his door, she called quietly, "Kurt?"

He flung the door open at the sound of Haley's voice, his tail thrashing madly. "Where on earth where you? Did he hurt you?" His eyes were wide with fear

She fell into his arms. "Can we just not talk about it?" she asked him softly. He nodded and kissed the top of her head. She felt like Kurt was too good for her.

As she sat on the bed with him, Haley began to wonder why she couldn't control her damn hormones around Pietro. She felt nothing for him! And yet he could get her to make out with him at the drop of the hat. It was sickening.

She felt terrible for not letting Kurt know about what happened. It wasn't right, but what happened wasn't either. She didn't want to hurt him. Haley cared so much for Kurt. She didn't want to ruin their relationship, yet she had gone and done something stupid that could have destroyed it.

"Kurt, I'm going to go to bed now," she gently said after a while. She kissed him on the lips.

"Sweet dreams," he told her, sad to see her go after having worried about her all night.

"'Night, Crawler," she said with a smile as she walked out of his room. He laughed lightly at her play on words.

---

Pietro sat in the Brotherhood house. Once again, he was proud of himself. His little date with Haley had gone swimmingly. He especially liked the part where they started making out. He told her that he could change her mind. He was right. Well, that wasn't anything new to him. Pietro always considered himself right. Like gravity exsisting, it was just a fact.

The only sucky part was when that animal Badger barged in on them. That was so extremely rude! Didn't anyone at that little place for losers teach them manners? He then looked around the trashed room; it wasn't like the Brotherhood were any better though.

---

"Ugh, I got no sleep last night," Kitty yawned as she sat down at the breakfast table with Haley.

"_You_ got no sleep?" she asked in indignantly. She slipped her head into her hands with a groan.

Kitty rolled her eyes. "Evan is impossible to tutor. I spent an hour trying to get him to focus long enough on his homework to finish two problems. Tonight we're supposed to work on science. My brain's going to die." Haley giggled lightly at this.

"Hey, did you ever end up talking to Jean?" she asked, changing the subjects.

"Yeah, she just told me to try not to make Scott mad and not fight with him." Haley rolled her eyes, exasperated.

They both half-heartedly laughed. "Haley," Kitty lowered her voice. "What exactly happened last night?"

Haley slightly winced at the subject. Frowning, she replied, "I'll tell you later. This isn't exactly the best place?"

The other teen raised an eyebrow. "Why?" Just then, pretty much everyone walked in for breakfast. "Oh," she said, answering her own question.

---

"Go away, Pietro," Haley growled, sensing he was behind her. Her nostrils flared in anger. 

Grinning cockily, he replied, "Hmm, looks like someone's upset about last night. It seemed like you were having fun until the badger came and broke it up."

She turned around and glared at him. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? I had to fight off the others to keep them from following me around all day." Pietro repositioned himself, so he could lean against the lockers. "It was bad! I didn't know Evan hated you that much. He wanted to use you for target practice."

"Oh, come on," he said, taking a step forward. She saw this coming and placed a small puddle right where his foot would land in a couple of strides. Sure enough, he slipped on it. "Well, that's not fair," he stated, looking up at her.

"It was fair last night when you kidnapped me!" Pietro started to get up. Haley backed away from him. "Stay away! You're a bad boy, Pietro."

He grinned devilishly. "That's what I like to hear."

She scoffed at his immaturity. "Bye, Pietro. Leave me alone." Haley quickly dashed off to class, fully aware that he could easily catch up with her. She just hoped he wouldn't.

During first period, Haley regretfully accounted to Kitty what had happened the previous night. It wasn't her proudest moment. It actually came nowhere even close to making the list. She had been totally disrespectful to her relationship with Kurt. However, Haley couldn't understand why, but she just couldn't help herself.

Kitty listened, totally torn between emotions. Should she be super pissed at Haley? It seemed that way. But listening to the way Haley told her the story made her think differently. She had seemed completely angry at herself when she had told Kitty the story. So, she chose to just let it sink in for a little while. The two were quiet for the remainder of the class.

---

"Kurt…" Haley warned him steadily. It was lunch time, and he had been shooting glares at Pietro across the cafeteria for the longest time. Not that the others were helping. They all had been giving him dirty looks too. None of them listened to her. They continued glaring daggers at him and the rest of the Brotherhood.

She buried her head in frustration. A week ago her life had been much simpler. It was not exactly boring, but way simpler than it currently was.


	17. Haley Gets Pietro Out of Her System

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope."

"You want me to 'get it out of my system?'"

"Yup."

"And you want me to do this, how again?"

"I told you Blondie. Go over to the Brotherhood house and get it out of your system."

"So I don't need my hearing checked? You are just crazy," Haley told Logan indignantly. "Besides, I'm grounded," she pushed, hoping that little fact would get her out of this.

Logan pushed her onto his motorcycle. "Well this is training."

"What are you training me for, the Prostitute Olympics?" She surprised herself with how bold she was being. However, desperate times did call for desperate measures.

"Can it," he growled at her.

She folded her arms over her chest. "How come Kitty doesn't have to do this? She's dating Lance!" Haley felt a little bad about ratting on Kitty, but she was trying to save herself, as selfish as that sounded.

He sighed, angrily. "She actually cares about that creep. You don't seem to be able to help yourself around Quicksilver. We need you to be level-headed in case you have to fight those losers. So just get it out of your system!" he insisted once more, not elaboraing.

Haley soon found herself standing awkwardly outside the Brotherhood's door. She could feel Logan's stare boring a hole in the back of her head. This wasn't fair to her or Kurt. What would happen if he found out? He would find out sooner or later. It felt like she had been punched when she thought of that.

He would find out.

There was no way around it. Skeletons always came out of the closet. That's the way it worked. You couldn't hide something forever.

Feebly, she knocked on the door. Fred answered it. "Hi…is Pietro there?" Haley asked, wringing her hands.

He stood at her wide-eyed, not sure of what to make of her standing there. Then slowly, he nodded his head. Stepping aside from the door Blob led her into the rundown house. "Pietro, you have a guest," he called upstairs.

"Who is it?" he asked as he sped to the landing at the top of the stairs. A pleased smile spread on his face as he saw Haley standing there. "Well isn't this a pleasant surprise? I thought you were grounded," he said, a cocky tone in his voice.

"I am," she said through clenched teeth.

"I'm flattered," he said, ambling down the stairs. "You decided to ditch that loser joint to visit me against your grounding." He extended his hand to her. "Shall we then?" She grudgingly took his hand and followed him upstairs.

Despite the rest of the house, Pietro's room was surprisingly clean, even his bed was made. Speaking of that, Haley silently wished that she wouldn't have to go _that_ far to "get it out of her system." She shuddered at the thought and quickly shoved it away into the far corners of her mind.

He took a seat on an armchair on one side of the room. She sat on the bed, trying to be as far away from him as possible. Her spine began to ache from sitting up straight. However, she didn't want herself comfortable in any way at all."Uh…nice weather we're having, huh?" she said, trying to keep him away from her by using small talk. Maybe she only had to talk to him.

His expression changed to confused. "Yes?" he responded.

Haley nodded her head vigorously. "Yeah, and how about those Marlins?"

"Are you feeling okay?" he said as he rushed to feel her forehead. She sprang to her feet and backed away.

"Oh, right, this is New York." She let out a dry laugh. "Yankees or Mets?" Pietro advanced towards her and she kept backing away. "Okay, maybe you don't like baseball... Do you like basketball? Hockey? Football?" Haley backed into a wall, and he pinned her there. "Lacrosse?" Her voice was shakey. The other teen was _way_ to close for comfort.

He hushed her with his finger. "You talk too much. I know the perfect cure…"

As he started kissing her, Haley yelled at herself to stop. She reminded herself of all the reasons why she shouldn't be doing this. However, nobody was listening to her brain. When Pietro kissed the hollow of her throat, her head finally shut up. Haley started running her fingers through his soft, white hair.

A few minutes later, they were making out on his bed. Something snapped in Haley. It all began to change. Suddenly, his kisses didn't feel good anymore. His hands on her body felt wrong. She stayed still for a second, letting that sink in. Her conscious came back with a vengeance, and she was pissed.

Her strength was heightened by this anger. That was pretty evident in the huge blast of water she sent at Pietro. He was flung against the wall, dazed, confused, and very wet. The wind had been knocked out of him, so he didn't say anything. He just looked at her. His eyes questioning the sudden change.

"Dammit Pietro!" she screamed before storming out of his room. On her way down the stairs, Toad got in the way and soon suffered similar fate.

Haley stomped out to where Wolverine and parked his motorcycle. "Don't even try to mess with me," she snarled at him as she grabbed the keys to his bike. "I know how to ride a bike. But if it happens to get rammed into a building, then it was an accident." Then she sped off leaving behind an open-mouthed, shocked Logan.

"How on earth did a fifteen year old girl learn how to ride a motorcycle?" he muttered to himself in astonishment as he started walking home. All the way, he prayed that he wouldn't find his bike destroyed.

Pietro was definitely out of Haley's system.

**Yes, I know, short chapter. And also, I do realize the likelyhood of this happening is very slim, but I needed to move the plot forward. So don't worry, I know that I definately stretched this out.**


	18. Chapter 18

Rogue sat on her bed. She wasn't in the best of moods because Kitty was running her mouth on the phone to her _fantastic_ boyfriend, Lance. Currently, Kitty was quiet. It might have been because he had left the phone for a moment, or it might have been that the walking earthquake had finally been able to construct a sentence and Kitty was sitting in awe. In any case, the quiet was welcomed by her. 

"Are you serious?" the teen said after a while. Rogue rolled her eyes at Kitty. "What the hell?"

Rogue clicked her tongue. "Watch your language, Miss Pryde," she teased.

Kitty shot a glare at her, then turned back to the phone. "Are you sure?" There was a pause for Lance to reply. "Oh my god… what was she doing there?" Another pause. "Pietro?!" She shrieked angrily. "But she's supposed to have a training session with Logan right now. How did she manage to sneak away?"

This conversation finally appeared to be interesting. From what Rogue could gather Haley had been at the Brotherhood house with Pietro when she was supposed to have a one-on-one training session. Rogue smiled to herself. This was like playing Clue, only much more entertaining because it was real.

She had to give her props to Haley. Skipping a training session was bad enough already -especially if it was with Wolverine. But Haley was grounded and supposedly kidnapped by Pietro the night before. That took guts.

However, something didn't seem quite right to Rogue.

Kitty had hung up the phone. She was all in a huffy. "If Logan doesn't kill that girl," she snarled, her eyes narrowed angrily. "I will! Accident my ass," she muttered under her breath. It appeared to her that Kitty apparently knew more than she was willing to tell.

A few minutes later, Haley strolled into her room to find a very angry Kitty sitting on her bed. "So I'm guessing you talked to Lance or something," she said slowly, putting two and two together. Kitty nodded. "It was my training session," Haley continued, knowing that once again the truth looked a little shabby.

"Bull shit," Kitty hissed. "You just want to get with whatever boy you want. You don't care about Kurt's feelings."

"Yes, I do! I'm telling you that they felt that I need to 'get it out of my system.' Do you think I'd actually manage to sneak out of the mansion without being noticed? Have you seen Logan around since you last saw me? Of course not! He's not even back yet because I took his bike!"

Kitty let it sink in for a little bit. "You took his motorcycle?" she asked in awe.

Haley nodded her head. "Yes, as crazy as it sounds!" She sat down, suddenly tired. "This is terrible! I don't know why I agreed to do it…"

Kitty softened up a bit. "You were just doing what you thought was right. He's out of your system, right?" she asked gently, using the chosen words.

"I blasted him against the wall. What do you think?" Kitty giggled in response. "Yeah, he better be out of my system. I'm about to kill him and myself as it is." She buried her face into her hands. "What am I going to do?" she moaned.

"What do you mean?"

Haley sighed, looking up. "Kurt's going to find out eventually. It's...everything..." she exhaled angrily. "Life sucks," she concluded.

---

Pietro had been fuming ever since Haley left. He had been storming around the house babbling too fast for anyone else to understand. He was obviously not in a very good mood. While trying to cover up their snickering, everybody chose to stay out of his way.

Toad on the other hand had been complaining ever since he recovered from his little run-in with Haley. He was being completely melodramatic about the whole thing, so the others just ignored him. Fred and Lance were getting a headache between Pietro and Toad.

"I know what we're doing!" Pietro finally announced. The rest of the Brotherhood stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "We're going to have a little play date with the X-men. Those little losers won't know what hit them." A pleased smile rested on his face. His eyes were glinting with vengeance.

Lance silently scoffed at this idea. Whenever they tried to go up against those geeks, they always lost. They were even more at of a disadvantage now because he was dating Kitty. Not only that, but they now had a new recruit, an extra person. From what little he knew about this new girl, he knew that she was pretty capable. They had the Toad shaped outline on the wall to prove it.

This was going to be a disaster. Yet another embarrassing defeat would be imprinted on their memories. At very least, now they didn't have Mystique to lecture them this time.

They all suited up and hopped in Lance's Jeep. They drove as close to the mansion as they deemed safe, and then walked the rest of the way. Lance would have tried to stop Pietro, but he saw that look in his eyes. He looked crazy -well, crazier than usual.

---

_Wolverine, Storm_ Professor X mentally reached out to his instructors. _It seems that the Brotherhood is coming to pay us a visit. Stay out of their way. Let the students handle this. I have a feeling that Haley needs to let out a little anger after today's little "training session."_

**The chapters keep getting shorter, don't they? I'll try to fix that.**


	19. Chapter 19

**As promised, this chapter is longer. However, I suck at writing battle scenes so you have been warned. :)**

Scott opened the door to Haley's room, where she and Kitty were now just joking around and laughing. They were trying to just forget the events that had transpired, but he didn't know that. And that's the way they wanted it to be. "Suit up you two, the Brotherhood has come to play."

"Even me?" Haley asked incredulously. She didn't think that she was really ready to take on anyone. Even though she had already taken out Pietro and Todd.

Impatiently, he sighed. "How many people are in this room?"

"Two," she responded blankly.

"And I said 'you two', now does that answer your question?" As if on cue, the two girls rolled their eyes at the same time. "Let's go," Cyclops urged, ever impatient when it came to facing their rivals.

A few minutes later, the X-men a stood in a line, waiting for the Brotherhood to arrive. They didn't have to wait long. They came within a few moments. For a little while, the two groups stared each other down. Kitty rolled her eyes at Lance who gave a helpless shrug. Quicksilver had his attention focused on Haley. When she finally looked at her, he made a kissy face. She scowled in response. She felt the boiling hate rising inside of her. The anger in both of their eyes matched.

"I call Pietro," Haley hissed towards the others. She sounded business, so they decided to respect her request despite the fact that she was the newest one on the team.

A few seconds later, the first move was made by Quicksilver. "Catch me if you can little rip tide," he snarled as he took off into the woods. Haley launched herself in the air and pursued him quickly.

"Be careful," Kurt warned Tidal Wave as she took off. She looked in his eyes, gave him a little smile, and nodded.

"Nightcrawler," Scott directed once she had made it out of earshot. "Follow after them. Get her away from him is need be." The elf nodded and disappeared. "Rogue, take care of Toad."

"Oh, my favorite," she remarked dryly.

He scowled slightly at her reaction but decided to dismiss it. "Jean and Spyke, you get Blob. Kitty, you're with me. We've got Avalanche."

"You have got to be kidding me," Shadowcat murmured to herself. It was just her luck. Then again, that was also good news because it meant that Scott still hadn't figured out about their relationship.

The battle was initiated and the X-men took off to their directed target.

Following close behind Scott, Kitty hesitantly advanced towards her boyfriend. Lance was obviously surprised by this and faltered in making a move. Then, Avalanche set out a tremor and created a deep chasm in which Cyclops fell. At the last moment, Shadowcat was able to grab his hand and pull him to safety. Then she shot the dirtiest look she could manage at Lance who once again gave her a little shrug in response.

Toad bounded after Rogue who just took off her glove and rendered him unconcious. She shuddered feeling slimy inside because of him. "Idiot," she muttered as she walked away from him.

Fred was having fun just uprooting trees to throw at his opponents. Jean stopped one tree from hitting Evan. Then, she propelled it back him. Spyke tried shooting at Blob, but much to his cahgrin he found that the mutants excessive amount of blubber created a form of protection for himself.

Meanwhile, Haley was chasing after Quicksilver in the forest. From a tree overhead, Kurt watched over silently as her protector, only willing to help her if she absolutely needed it. "What's the problem, Haley? Tired of chasing me?" Pietro cackled as he circled her.

She put up a wall of water for him to run into. When he actually did, she was surprised. "Looks like you've fallen for me once again," she shot back. Getting up, he threw a punch at her. She dodged it easily because of the poor angle he had thrown it at. Grinning, she retorted, "Didn't your mother teach you not to hit girls?"

He got up on his feet. Haley shot a jet of water at him which he avoided. "I'll only fall for that trick once."

From up in the trees, Nightcrawler tried to make sense of the two's banter. It was quite confusing because he wasn't sure what they kept referring to. Unexpectedly, Pietro grabbed Haley and started kissing her. Kurt's heart pounded madly, and he became incredibly jealous. He gripped the branch he was perched on tightly with his tail to keep himself from being made known.

Tidal Wave kneed Pietro where it counts. He collapsed over. Nightcrawler silently applauded Haley. He didn't know that she was congratulating herself too. "Sorry, Pietro, that's not going to work anymore," she said proudly.

Anymore? When was the first time they kissed?

"It worked about an hour ago," Quicksilver mustered out through his pain.

An hour ago? They kissed an hour ago?! The puzzle pieces began to fall in place in his head; his heart began to ache. Devastated by this betrayel, Kurt teleported to his room. He had been wrong. Just because she didn't freak out when she first saw him didn't mean that she would be different than the others like he had thought.

"Yeah, but remember that part when I slammed you against your wall?" She brought down a torrent of water on him. "Dammit, Pietro! When are you going to understand that you were just a phase and a stupid mistake?!"

It had finally seemed that Quicksilver got the picture. "Let's go!" he shouted loudly to his team who was more than a couple yards away. With that, Pietro was gone.

Still happy with her inner and outter victory, Haley made her way back to the others. "Where's Kurt?" she asked furrowing her brow. "Is he okay?"

"He was supposed to watch after you," Scott admitted while rubbing the back of his neck.

"What?!" she screeched. It wasn't the fact that Scott thought she needed a babysitter that made her mad. It was the thought of what he might have seen or heard. She looked back at the mansion and saw a blot of blue fur out on the balcony where Kurt's room should have been. She took off running at rapid speed to go talk to him.

He sat alone, staring off at the sunset. He had been a fool to think that Haley had really wanted him. How stupid could he be? Why did he always have to get hurt like this?

"Kurt," a voice said from behind him. He recognized it as Haley's.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" he asked coldly without turning around. The harshness of his words caught her off guard.

She hesitated. "Well I didn't use the door, but-" She rapped her knuckles against the frame of the doors that led out to the balcony. "May I come in?"

"No."

"You need to listen to me Kurt."

He whirled around, angered. His demonic appearance finally suceeded in scaring her. "About what, Haley? How I saw you kissing Pietro? Or how that wasn't the first time that it's happened? Oh yes, I would love to hear about that. Do please give me every detail. That would just be wonderful!"

"Stop!" she cried unhappily. "Do you think I'm proud of what has happened between me and Pietro? It wasn't exactly something I chose!"

Kurt rolled his eyes to show that he didn't believe her. "And I'm also sure that you didn't choose to be 'kidnapped' by him either."

"I didn't," she growled through clenched teeth.

"Well isn't that convenient then?" he snapped. Kurt became suddenly sullen. "I thought that we had something…"

She put her hand on his shoulder. "We do…"

Violently, he removed her hand. "You sure have a funny way of showing it. Sneaking around with other guys isn't exactly what I had in mind."

"It wasn't what I had had in mind either…"

He smacked his forehead. "I was so stupid to think that you actually cared or wanted me! After all, I'm just some demonic freak! That's the only thing people will ever see!"

Haley wanted Kurt to shut up, so she did it the only way she knew how. She kissed him. When she pulled away, he started talking again. Frustrated, she kissed him again. The next time they pulled away, he didn't talk. Instead, he pulled her in this time.

Kurt was suddenly conflicted with emotions. He pushed her away and teleported without saying a word. Haley stared at the spot where he had been moments before, upset. Defeated, she walked back to her room. She silently closed the door, leaned against it, closed her eyes, and sighed.


	20. Chapter 20

**Second to last chapter (well actually the last, the next one is just a short epilogue), also the longest. Enjoy.**

"Hello, Haley," a voice said.

"Pietro," she greeted without opening her eyes. She had grown so acustomed to just answering that way. "When are you ever going to get the picture?" she asked in exasperation.

The voice said nothing for a moment. "How quickly you have forgotten."

"Forgotten what?" she snorted, thinking he was the one who had forgotten.

"Who I am."

She opened her eyes. Much to her chagrin, it wasn't Pietro standing there. It was Jack, her ex. She suddenly grew serious. "How did you find me, Jack?" she asked coldly. Not in the least bit frightened, Haley boldly stared him down.

"I have my ways." He said nonchalantly as he lied down on her bed. "It's payback time, Haley. It seems that you won't take me back," he paused a moment to inhale deeply. "So I guess I'll just have to ruin your life."

"Sorry, I already beat you to it," she muttered dryly. "Besides," she continued, getting louder. "You really don't want to mess with me, Jack. You don't know what I'm capable of," she warned. This guy was so getting out of hand. Stalking her into a different state is where she drew the line.

He jumped off the bed and glowered down at her. "Oh, I believe I do," he growled. Jack grabbed hold of her wrist. "I know exactly what you are." Her skin started to burn like it was on fire. Her eyes watered from the pain. "Because I'm exactly like you. The only thing is, I didn't take up your little professor's offer."

She blinked dumbly. "He'll know you're here."

"Actually Professor X is out and about. Besides," he said as he lit his free hand on fire. "I don't think you want me to burn down this lovely mansion." Her eyes widened, knowing that he was crazy enough to do it. "Just think of all your little friends," he continued in a taunting voice.

She swallowed hard. Maybe somebody would come and check on her soon... Trying to stall him, Haley inquired, "How did you figure it out?"

Jack grinned proudly. "Well, it was probably last the last time that I saw you when I first realized it. You most likely had just gotten your powers by then. However, I didn't put it together until a few days later when I realized you were missing. That was when I found the card for this place in one of my drawers. But this isn't the place to chit chat." he sneered at her. She shrunk away from him, only to realize she had no place to go.

Being a strong guy, Jack had managed to knock out Haley without using much of his strength. He then carried her off to the location where he planned to kill her. "Sorry about that," he told Haley as she regained consciousness. "I couldn't risk you knowing the location. Who knows all the crazy stuff the people at the Institute can do. But I do have a feeling you don't know much more than I..." he trailed off.

Haley struggled to get free, but her legs and arms had been tied to a chair. Her hands were positioned in a spot that made it incredibly painful to even think about using her powers. "Let me go," she snarled at him.

"I don't think I will. See, here's why. I control fire; you control water. I'm going to set this place on fire. If you were free, you have the option to run or to douse the fire. Now let's say you do get free, by that time most of this place will be on fire. You won't have any water to protect yourself anymore and will still die. That is why I won't untie you. It defeats the purpose."

She stared up at him, afraid for the first time. He intended on killing her. Seriously, the stalking was bad enough. But murder? This dude was insane.

Jack leaned over to bring his eyes level with Haley. "And before I go to blockade all the entrances and exits of this dump and set this place on fire, a farewell kiss," he said in mock splendor.

He closed the distance between his and Haley's lips. As they made contact, she bit his lower lip as hard as she could. He screamed and back away, blood on both of there mouths. "You always were a feisty one," he chuckled, wiping the blood from his mangled lips.

"Good night, good night, parting is such sweet sorrow," he taunted her.

"You're about to kill me and you quote _Romeo & Juliet_?" she screeched at him.

Holding out his hand, Jack said, "There's no need to yell. Not that anyone can hear you anyway. Just in case though…" He pulled out a bandana and gagged her. "Goodbye, my lady." He cackled as he walked away, feeling pleased with himself.

---

Kurt teleported into Haley's room. Everyone had said that she was in there, and he had finally made up his mind. "Haley?" he called gently when he didn't see her right away. He stepped on something and looked down. It was a card for the Institute, the edges of it slightly burnt. He involuntarily shuddered as he put it away in his pocket.

The room was eerily silent and Haley's balcony doors were open. However, she wasn't out there. Where could she be? Kurt could only think of one explanation. "Pietro," he hissed quietly. Then, he teleported himself to the Brotherhood house.

He knocked on the door violently, until Pietro opened the door. "What do you want X-geek?" he scowled, still bitter about his earlier loss.

"Where is she?" he asked angrily.

The other mutant raised a confused eyebrow. "Who?"

"Haley, who else?"

Pietro rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know where she is. I didn't kidnap her this time."

"Well, somebody did," Kurt said, exasperated. He wracked his mind for where she could be.

"She's missing?"

"I shouldn't be surprised that you haven't figured that out yet," he spat.

"Whoa, calm down, fuzz ball." Not wanting talk to the angry teen any longer, Pietro called for Fred. "He's kidnapped one of you guys before too. Ask him."

Blob stood confounded in the doorway. He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know…try finding something old and abandoned. It usually works."

Kurt frantically searched the town for Haley. Then, his eye caught something. It was a large flame in the distance. Remembering the burnt edges of the card, he decided that this was his best lead.

Outside of the old warehouse, Jack was setting a good fire up, blasting almost every square inch of wood. Kurt landed in front of him. "What the hell are you supposed to be?" he asked, surprised by the elf.

"I'm Nightcrawler."

"Jeez, you must be one of those lame people from the Institute. And I thought _I_ was a freak!" He chuckled in delight. "Okay, well come on, let's have a fight!" He started throwing fire at him, who nimbly leapt out of the way every time.

The fight went on like this for a while. They both tried to delve blows at each other, but neither were very successful. Kurt became aggravated and worried for Haley. A normal person can barely survive a fire, but she was a mutant who thrived on water. This was more of a double blow towards her. He wanted to teleport in, but Jack was keeping him busy.

A rush of wind announced the arrival of Quicksilver. "You go in and get Haley out," he instructed Nightcrawler. "I'll take care of this hothead." Kurt nodded and teleported into the blazing building.

Inside, Haley was hacking and choking on the smoke. She felt weak and dizzy with the absence of water and just regular oxygen. Her vision was being distorted by black dots. She could feel how uneven and faint her heartbeat was becoming. It looks like Jack had succeeded in his quest to ruin her life. She would be dead in the matter of minutes. Although, it would have been more acurate of him to say end instead of ruin...

"Haley?!" Kurt shouted above the roar of the flames. Haley wanted to shout out, but she was gagged and making any kind of noise would be too much. However, a little part of her rejoiced that he still cared enough about her to save her.

She needed to alert him that she was here somehow. The place was big and he could be looking anywhere. Using what little energy she had left, she rocked her chair until it crashed to the ground. Her shoulder absorbed the shock in this process, leaving her in pain. Hearing the noise, Kurt went to investigate.

Outside, Pietro was frustrated. Jack had just melted the rubber of his sneakers to the ground. "Bull shit!" he yelled. "These were my good pair too!" He quickly slid out of the shoes and ran out of the way.

Kurt approached a mass on the floor. "Haley?" he asked quietly, trying to see through the heavy smoke as he rushed over. She only responded with a weak cough. Working as fast as he could, her untied tied her and took off the gag.

She managed a small smile. "Thanks," her voice was dry and small. Then she wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. "I-"

"Now is not the best time!" Kurt said as the building creaked and groaned. There was a loud _bang_ as part of the ceiling fell. "Hold on," he whispered as he teleported them out of there.

Once out of the barn, Haley was finally able to breathe. She took a deep breath of air, but ended up choking on it. He hushed her and held her in his arms. "It's raining," she said with a smile as a raindrop hit her cheek. It was soon pouring.

"I think that's Storm trying to douse the fire," he told her gently.

"I know…it's nice... Kurt, next time, get me out of there _before _you untie me."

"You're planning on pulling that stunt, again?" he asked in disbelief.

The rest of the X-men rushed towards the two. "A little late on reaction time, guys" she joked, lightly. She blinked a couple of times, light-headed from the amount of oxygen available to her.

"Nice work, Kurt," Jean said. "You got her out in time and tied up the jerk that created this mess."

"Oh, I can't take all the credit," he said with a laugh. "Pietro must have finished him up. I wouldn't have been able to do it without him."

"Pietro?" Haley asked, surprised.

Kurt nodded. "Yeah, he came at a good time."

Professor Xavier came up to the group of teens. "Sorry about this entire mess, students. I should be more careful the next time I leave. We'll have to keep you in the infirmary overnight, Haley," he informed her.

"Will I have to go to school tomorrow?"

He chuckled. "No, of course not, tomorrow's Saturday."


End file.
